At the mid-way point in the 85th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 3rd round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship, the No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid is leading after a disastrous night for Toyota Gazoo Racing.

As the sun set on Saturday, and the afternoon’s high temperatures began to fall slightly, several dramas unfolded and two Toyotas were forced to retire within 30 minutes of each other.

The No.7 TS050 HYBRID of Conway-Kobayashi-Sarrazin was holding a strong lead over the No.1 Porsche when, just towards the end of the 10th hour, the car suffered a clutch problem. Kobayashi at the wheel and the team in the pits tried everything to bring it back to pitlane for repairs but eventually had to park the car at the exit of the Porsche Curves and retire.

In a cruel further twist, just 15 minutes after that disappointment, the No.9 TS050 HYBRID of Nicolas Lapierre, Yuji Kunimoto and José María López was hit by an LMP2 competitor approaching the first corner, causing damage to the rear left of the car which was too severe for the car to continue.  A small fire as a result of the collision brought out the safety car.

No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid is on a charge back through the field and is 16th overall at the half way mark while the No.8 Toyota is far behind but still circulating after losing over an hour in the pits for a new front motor and battery.

Vaillante Rebellion’s No.31 ORECA of Senna-Prost-Canal leads in LMP2, and now up to 2ndoverall, ahead of No.38 Jackie Chan DC Racing and the sister No.13 Vaillante entry.

TDS Racing’s No.28 ORECA, after running well in the early stages of the race, had to serve a 7-minute stop and hold penalty for Matthieu Vaxivière’s part in an incident with the LMGTE Pro Risi Ferrari.

It was an Aston Martin 1-2 in the LMGTE Pro category as the clock completed its first tour, with the No.95 Dane Train heading the No.97 Vantage, the No.91 Porsche 911 RSR and the No.71 Ferrari 488 GTE.

After leading the category for several hours, the No.98 Aston Martin Vantage suffered a scary moment with a puncture while at high speed, and the subsequent loss of some front bodywork.  Pedro Lamy used all his experience to get the car back to the pits, but 4 laps were lost while repairs were made.

ELMS entries are holding the first two places in the Am category, with the WEC’s No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche in 3rd.

Results after 12h:

Pos CLASS Team Driver 1 Driver 2 Driver 3 LAPS
1 LMP1-H Porsche LMP Team Neel JANI André LOTTERER Nick TANDY 188
2 LMP2 Vaillante Rebellion Nicolas PROST Julien CANAL Bruno SENNA 179
3 LMP2 Jackie Chan DC Racing Ho-Pin TUNG Thomas LAURENT Oliver JARVIS 179
4 LMP2 Vaillante Rebellion Nelson PIQUET JR David HEINEMEIER HANSSON Mathias BECHE 179
5 LMP2 Signatech Alpine Matmut Nelson PANCIATICI Pierre RAGUES André NEGRÃO 177
6 LMP2 Graff James ALLEN Franck MATELLI Richard BRADLEY 177
7 LMP2 CEFC Manor TRS Racing Tor GRAVES Jonathan HIRSCHI Jean-Eric VERGNE 177
8 LMP2 United Autosports Will OWEN Hugo DE SADELEER Filipe ALBUQUERQUE 177
9 LMP2 Jackie Chan DC Racing David CHENG Tristan GOMMENDY Alex BRUNDLE 176
10 LMP2 Panis Barthez Competition Fabien BARTHEZ Timothé BURET Nathanaël BERTHON 174
11 LMP2 Dragonspeed – 10 Star Henrik HEDMAN Ben HANLEY Felix ROSENQVIST 173
12 LMP2 TDS Racing François PERRODO Matthieu VAXIVIERE Emmanuel COLLARD 173
13 LMP2 Tockwith Motorsports Nigel MOORE Philip HANSON Karun CHANDHOK 173
14 LMP2 Cetilar Villorba Corse Roberto LACORTE Giorgio SERNAGIOTTO Andrea BELICCHI 171
15 LMP2 Graff Enzo GUIBBERT Eric TROUILLET James WINSLOW 171
16 LMP1-H Porsche LMP Team Timo BERNHARD Earl BAMBER Brendon HARTLEY 170
17 LMP2 Eurasia Motorsport Jacques NICOLET Pierre NICOLET Erik MARIS 168
18 LMGTE Pro Aston Martin Racing Nicki THIIM Marco SØRENSEN Richie STANAWAY 166
19 LMGTE Pro Aston Martin Racing Darren TURNER Jonathan ADAM Daniel SERRA 166
20 LMGTE Pro Porsche GT Team Richard LIETZ Frédéric MAKOWIECKI Patrick PILET 166
21 LMGTE Pro AF Corse Davide RIGON Sam BIRD Miguel MOLINA 166
22 LMGTE Pro Porsche GT Team Michael CHRISTENSEN Kevin ESTRE Dirk WERNER 166
23 LMGTE Pro AF Corse James CALADO Alessandro PIER GUIDI Michele RUGOLO 166
24 LMGTE Pro Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Andy PRIAULX Harry TINCKNELL Luis Felipe DERANI 166
25 LMGTE Pro Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Joey HAND Dirk MÜLLER Tony KANAAN 166
26 LMGTE Pro Corvette Racing – GM Jan MAGNUSSEN Antonio GARCIA Jordan TAYLOR 166
27 LMGTE Pro Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ryan BRISCOE Richard WESTBROOK Scott DIXON 165
28 LMP2 Idec Sport Racing Patrice LAFARGUE Paul LAFARGUE David ZOLLINGER 165
29 LMP2 Racing Team Nederland Jan LAMMERS Frits VAN EERD Rubens BARRICHELLO 165
30 LMP2 Signatech Alpine Matmut Romain DUMAS Gustavo MENEZES Matthew RAO 164
31 LMGTE Am JMW Motorsport Robert SMITH Will STEVENS Dries VANTHOOR 164
32 LMGTE Am TF Sport Salih YOLUC Euan HANKEY Rob BELL 162
33 LMGTE Am Dempsey – Proton Racing Christian RIED Matteo CAIROLI Marvin DIENST 162
34 LMP2 Algarve Pro Racing Mark PATTERSON Matthew MCMURRY Vincent CAPILLAIRE 162
35 LMGTE Am Scuderia Corsa Cooper MACNEIL William SWEEDLER Townsend BELL 162
36 LMGTE Am Spirit of Race Duncan CAMERON Aaron SCOTT Marco CIOCI 162
37 LMGTE Pro Corvette Racing – GM Oliver GAVIN Tommy MILNER Marcel FÄSSLER 162
38 LMGTE Am Beechdean AMR Andrew HOWARD Ross GUNN Oliver BRYANT 161
39 LMGTE Am Clearwater Racing Weng Sun MOK Keita SAWA Matt GRIFFIN 161
40 LMGTE Am Proton Competition Patrick LONG Abdulaziz AL FAISAL Michael HEDLUND 161
41 LMP2 SMP Racing Mikhail ALESHIN Sergey SIROTKIN Victor SHAITAR 160
42 LMGTE Am DH Racing Tracy KROHN Niclas JÖNSSON Andrea BERTOLINI 160
43 LMGTE Am Scuderia Corsa Christina NIELSEN Alessandro BALZAN Bret CURTIS 160
44 LMGTE Am Gulf Racing UK Michael WAINWRIGHT Benjamin BARKER Nicholas FOSTER 160
45 LMGTE Pro Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Stefan MÜCKE Olivier PLA Billy JOHNSON 160
46 LMP1-H Toyota Gazoo Racing Sébastien BUEMI Anthony DAVIDSON Kazuki NAKAJIMA 159
47 LMGTE Am Aston Martin Racing Paul DALLA LANA Pedro LAMY Mathias LAUDA 159
48 LMGTE Am Spirit of Race Thomas FLOHR Francesco CASTELLACCI Olivier BERETTA 159
49 LMGTE Am Clearwater Racing Richard WEE Hiroki KATOH Alvaro PARENTE 158
50 LMP2 G-Drive Racing Memo ROJAS Ryo HIRAKAWA Jose GUTIERREZ 153
51 LMP2 Keating Motorsports Ben KEATING Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN Ricky TAYLOR 149
52 LMGTE Am Larbre Competition Fernando REES Romain BRANDELA Christian PHILIPPON 149
53 LMP2 Arc Bratislava Miroslav KONOPKA Konstantin CALKO Rik BREUKERS 134
54 LMP1-H Toyota Gazoo Racing Nicolas LAPIERRE Yuji KUNIMOTO Jose Maria LOPEZ 160
55 LMP1-H Toyota Gazoo Racing Mike CONWAY Kamui KOBAYASHI Stéphane SARRAZIN 154
56 LMP2 CEFC Manor TRS Racing Roberto GONZALEZ Simon TRUMMER Vitaly PETROV 152
57 LMGTE Pro Risi Competizione Toni VILANDER Giancarlo FISICHELLA Pierre KAFFER 72
58 LMP2 G-Drive Racing Roman RUSINOV Pierre THIRIET Alex LYNN 20
59 LMGTE Am Proton Competition Klaus BACHLER Stéphane LEMERET Khaled AL QUBAISI 18
60 LMP1 Bykolles Racing Team Oliver WEBB Dominik KRAIHAMER Marco BONANOMI 7

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