Le Mans: Toyota leads rain-hit race at 17-hour mark

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s #8 car driven by Ryo Hirakawa, Brendon Hartley and Sébastien Buemi leads the 24 Hours of Le Mans after 17 hours following a lengthy Safety Car period that neutralized the race for more than four hours due to heavy rain.

Remarkably, due to the disrupted circumstances, a total of eleven Hypercars were on the same lap with seven hours to go, with Porsche Penske’s #6 car of Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and André Lotterer running second just 1.2s behind the leader.

Toyota’s #7 car of Nyck de Vries, Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi was third ahead of the first Ferrari 499P, the #50 entry of Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina.

The rain lifted shortly after 8:00 am which allowed race control to begin the process of resuming the race after the longest Safety Car period in the event’s history.

Saturday’s proceedings saw Ferrari’s #50 car take charge from the outset from polesitter Vanthoor’s Porsche. But the AF Corse’s second entry of Antonio Giovinazzi seized the runner-up to make it a Ferrari 1-2 during the first hour.

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Light rain led to a flurry of strategy calls, with the front-runners split between remaining on slicks and mounting inters.

Amid the gyrations, Robert Kubica’s #83 499P took the lead where it would remain for the next five hours.

However, into hour 8 and, while attempting to lap the #15 BMW Hypercar of Dries Vanthoor, Kubica tagged the Belgian driver’s car, sending the latter heavily into the barriers and out of the race.

The incident required a lengthy repair job to the Armco that led to an over 90-minute neutralization.

The crash also proved costly for Kubica and his teammates as the #83 Ferrari was hit with a 30-second stop/go penalty that sent the yellow machine down the order.

Meanwhile, the unassuming Toyota team progressed to the head of the field with its #8 car, with Porsche’s #6 machine close behind.

Unfortunately for Alpine, both of its cars retired in the opening 12 hours, due to a "suspected engine issue".

Well into the night – or into the morning – the rain started to pummel down which triggered another neutralization which remained enforced as night merged into dawn.

At 9:00 am, proper racing was underway once again, but track conditions remained treacherous, with many wet patches forcing drivers to remain attentive and extra cautious.

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