Le Mans 24H: More incidents, more drama and Toyota still lead at eight-hour point

As darkness blankets the Circuit de la Sarthe, more drama and incidents littered the 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans heading into the eighth hour.

Nightfall often reveals the cruelty of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This year’s race is no different; in wet/dry conditions, the fabled circuit is challenging and testing all the drivers and teams.

The headline on this 11 pm update is that the two Toyota cars are first and second. The #8 car piloted by Jose Maria Lopez holds a healthy lead over the sister #7 car driven by Kaz Nakajima.

After an eventful first day, the Glickenhaus Hypercar is in third place. Pipo Derani is only 23 seconds behind the second Toyota; his pace is solid despite all the dramas.

The other Glickenhaus car is toiling in 11th overall as Richard Westbrook is strapped in right now.

In the last hour, drama hit the Alpine car as Matthieu Vaxiviere braked on a damp patch while he passed backmarkers on the Mulsanne Straight.

Vaxiviere went skittling into the gravel trap, and it took the Alpine car out of immediate contention. Lapierre is now recovering in fifth overall.

In LMP2, Team WRT is enjoying a fairytale maiden tilt at the famous race. Ferdinand Habsburg and Robert Kubica are currently fourth and sixth overall.

The LMP2 class this evening has been crammed with action and chaos; the bottom line is that Alex Brundle, Sean Gelael, Paul DiResta, and Will Stevens are all lapping quickly. The order could well change between now and over the night.

AF Corse is waging an attritional battle with the returning Corvette racing in the GTE Pro class. James Calado currently holds the advantage over Antonio Garcia.

These two cars have raced each other all day long; the night promises more of the same. To underline Jota’s struggles, Antonio Felix Da Costa in the LMP2 car is trailing these two.

AF Corse is also leading the GTE AM class as Alessio Rovera is rapidly racing just nine laps into his stint. Elsewhere, there was a nasty accident for Richard Mille Racing’s Sophia Floersch.

It was a huge shame to see the all-female crew retire from the race; luckily, Floersch is ok.