Brendon Hartley, Timo Bernhard and Earl Bamber rescued a Le Mans 24 Hours win for Porsche that almost looked set to be stolen - for the first time in history - by an LMP2 team and the giant-killing Jackie Chan DC Racing crew and Vaillante Rebellion Racing team took the final podium positions.
At race start Mike Conway pulled out a two second lead over Neel Jani in the number 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid with Sebastien Buemi losing his rear gunner role through the first few turns. Buemi soon made his move on Jani and was able to close up on Conway after the Brit ran wide at the first chicane.
The two Toyotas went side-by-side through the Dunlop Curves, with Buemi eventually getting a slipsteam and managing to make a pass for the lead on the run to Indianapolis. The number 9 Toyota was relegated to fifth and losing close to two seconds a lap after Nicolas Lapierre made contact with the 4 ByKolles Enso CLM P1/01 – Nismo. Oliver Webb entered the pits for a bodywork change but would eventually retire with engine trouble.
A slow stop for the number 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca gave the Vaillante Rebellion Racing team the opportunity they needed to push Bruno Senna into the lead while Roman Rusinov made a clumsy error attempting to pass Al Qubaisi’s Proton Competition Porsche, ultimatelyforcing the Porsche and his own G-Drive Racing Oreca 07-Gibson into the barriers and into retirement.
Meanwhile LMP2 was at the helm of the action, with cars crashing and spinning up and down the circuit. Currently, Rebellion racing run Oreca 07 leads the class, with David Heinemeier Hansson current sitting in prime position. Among the train of cars in GTE Pro, AF Corse run Ferrari 488’s led the way, ahead of a chasing pack of Ford GT’s and Aston Martins.
At the close of the fourth hour, the number 1 Porsche was garaged with a front axle issue, eventually requiring a complete front hybrid change and due to be back on track within the next thirty minutes.
Little would unfold throughout the next few hours despite t the Toyota crew working frantically to install a new front MGU going into the #8 Toyota TS050 via the cockpit. Matters would get far worse however at the half-way point of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as the lead #7 Toyota would come to mechanical issue involving the clutch. As confirmed by Toyota, the lead car would succumb to problems with the clutch of the ICE to the transmission, of which has seen the car creep around the circuit until Kamui Kobayashi had to retire the car.
Images: FIA WEC/Adrenal Media