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 |