LeMans Hour 20: Toyotas 11 laps ahead, Alonso poised to win

Alonso is chasing down the #7 Toyota
Alonso cruising to victory as planned

After 20 hours of racing the two Toyota TS050 HYBRIDS are still out in front but there has been a change for the lead since our last report. The No.8 Toyota is now leading thanks to Kazuki Nakajima who went past Kamui Kobayashi in the 15th hour, but now Fernando Alonso is at the wheel and poised to win the 24 Hours of LeMans according to plan.

The two Toyotas are 90 miles ahead of the 3rd and 4th place LMP1 Rebellions. It's not even a race, its a Toyota parade as planned by the rules makers so that Fernando Alonso would win and make them headlines. Not taking anything away from Alonso, but when the rules mean you win by over 90 (soon to be 100) miles, something is wrong with the rules, or the fix was in.

After the two Rebellions briefly swapped positions during the previous hour, Bruno Senna is now in an outright third place in the #1 car.

The #1 had reeled in the sister #3 Rebellion-Gibson R-13 earlier in the morning, but Senna was able to leapfrog Matthias Beche when the #3 spent an additional 30s in the pits.

Porsche continues to dominate LMGTE Pro with the No.92 Porsche GT Team entry almost a lap ahead of the No.91 911 RSR as the clock went past the 20-hour point. The No.68 Ford GT of Sebastien Bourdais was lying in third position, right on the tail of the second placed Porsche.

Jan Magnussen was a lap down in fifth in the sole remaining Corvette entry, the #63, after the US squad was forced to retire the #64 car due to engine overheating issues.

#77 Porsche 911 RSR co-owned by actor Patrick Dempsey leads GTE-AM
#77 Porsche 911 RSR co-owned by actor Patrick Dempsey leads GTE-AM

G-Drive Racing’s No.26 ORECA 07 Gibson holds the lead in the LMP2 class with Andrea Pizzitola in the car. The Russian team is over 3 laps ahead of the second placed car in this class, the No.36 Signatech Alpine A470.

The No.77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR is still out in front of the LMGTE Am class, over 2 laps ahead of the No.85 Ferrari 488 GTE of Luca Stolz.

There were plenty of incidents in the third quarter of the 86th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans including stop and go penalties for both Toyotas for speeding under slow zone regulations.

There were several cars that went off track during the night, with some retirements. Notable among the WEC entrants was the No.82 BMW, with Alexander Sims unexpectedly going off into the wall at Porsche Curves. The heavy damage forced the retirement of the car.

The No.88 Dempsey-Proton Competition Porsche from the LMGTE Am class was another retirement after Matteo Cairoli hit the barriers after exiting Porsche Curves, with the No.10 DragonSpeed BR1 of Ben Hanley also going off at Porsche Curves a few minutes later.

Hour 20 Standings

POS NO. DRIVER CAR GAP LAPS PITS CAT.
1 #8 ALONSO Fernando Toyota TS050 – Hybrid 0.000s 323 31 P1
2 #7 LOPEZ Jose Maria Toyota TS050 – Hybrid 1:17.687 323 30 P1
3 #1 SENNA Bruno Rebellion R13 – GIBSON 11 Laps 312 33 P1
4 #3 BECHE Mathias Rebellion R13 – GIBSON 3.608 312 32 P1
5 #26 PIZZITOLA Andrea Oreca 07 – Gibson 15 Laps 308 30 P2
6 #36 THIRIET Pierre Alpine A470 – Gibson 18 Laps 305 30 P2
7 #48 LAFARGUE Paul LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 2:27.279 305 33 P2
8 #39 CAPILLAIRE Vincent Oreca 07 – Gibson 19 Laps 304 35 P2
9 #32 MONTOYA Juan Pablo LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 9.931 304 30 P2
10 #28 PERRODO Francois Oreca 07 – Gibson 50.627 304 31 P2
11 #37 TAN Weiron Oreca 07 – Gibson 24 Laps 299 33 P2
12 #31 GONZALEZ Roberto Oreca 07 – Gibson 25 Laps 298 34 P2
13 #29 VAN DER GARDE Giedo Dallara DALLARA P217 GIBSON 46.507 298 30 P2
14 #44 BERTOLINI Andrea LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 27 Laps 296 31 P2
15 #33 CHENG David LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 28 Laps 295 30 P2
16 #38 AUBRY Gabriel Oreca 07 – Gibson 29 Laps 294 30 P2
17 #23 STEVENS William LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 31 Laps 292 29 P2
18 #35 NEWEY Harrison Dallara P217 – Gibson 1:05:04.325 292 29 P2
19 #92 VANTHOOR Laurens Porsche 911 RSR 37 Laps 286 20 Pro
20 #91 MAKOWIECKI Frederic Porsche 911 RSR 2:45.673 286 20 Pro
21 #68 BOURDAIS Sebastien Ford GT 2:45.929 286 20 Pro
22 #67 PRIAULX Andy Ford GT 38 Laps 285 22 Pro
23 #63 MAGNUSSEN Jan Chevrolet Corvette C7.R 20.840 285 20 Pro
24 #69 WESTBROOK Richard Ford GT 36.403 285 20 Pro
25 #52 DERANI Luis Felipe Ferrari 488 GTE EVO 3:17.488 285 22 Pro
26 #51 PIER GUIDI Alessandro Ferrari 488 GTE EVO 39 Laps 284 21 Pro
27 #66 PLA Olivier Ford GT 41 Laps 282 21 Pro
28 #95 THIIM Nicki Aston Martin VANTAGE AMR 2:22.847 282 20 Pro
29 #47 LACORTE Roberto Dallara DALLARA P217 – GIBSON 3:59.863 282 31 P2
30 #71 RIGON Davide Ferrari 488 GTE EVO 42 Laps 281 22 Pro
31 #77 ANDLAUER Julien Porsche 911 RSR 44 Laps 279 20 Am
32 #85 STOLZ Luca Ferrari F488 GTE 1:44.640 279 21 Am
33 #54 FLOHR Thomas Ferrari F488 GTE 2:32.048 279 20 Am
34 #56 BERGMEISTER Jorg Porsche 911 RSR 45 Laps 278 21 Am
35 #99 PUMPELLY Spencer Porsche 911 RSR 46 Laps 277 21 Am
36 #81 TOMCZYK Martin BMW M8 GTE 12.423 277 23 Pro
37 #93 TANDY Nick Porsche 911 RSR 1:16.043 277 21 Pro
38 #80 BABINI Fabio Porsche 911 RSR 1:31.638 277 21 Am
39 #61 SAWA Keita Ferrari F488 GTE 1:54.182 277 20 Am
40 #50 RICCI Romano LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 47 Laps 276 29 P2
41 #84 MACNEIL Cooper Ferrari F488 GTE 11:06.776 276 19 Am
42 #90 YOLUC Salih Aston Martin VANTAGE 49 Laps 274 20 Am
43 #97 ADAM Jonathan Aston Martin VANTAGE AMR 51 Laps 272 19 Pro
44 #70 BERETTA Olivier Ferrari F488 GTE 54 Laps 269 20 Am
45 #11 PETROV Vitaly BR ENGINEERING BR1 – AER 36.148 269 26 P1
46 #86 WAINWRIGHT Michael Porsche 911 RSR 58 Laps 265 23 Am
47 #5 ROUSSEL Leo Ginetta G60-LT-P1 – MECACHROME 72 Laps 251 28 P1
48 #25 PATTERSON Mark LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 89 Laps 234 24 P2
49 #22 DI RESTA Paul LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 35 Laps 288 28 P2
50 #64 GAVIN Oliver Chevrolet Corvette C7.R 64 Laps 259 21 Pro
51 #10 HANLEY Ben BR ENGINEERING BR1 – GIBSON 79 Laps 244 26 P1
52 #88 CAIROLI Matteo Porsche 911 RSR 98 Laps 225 17 Am
53 #82 SIMS Alexander BMW M8 GTE 100 Laps 223 17 Pro
54 #40 GUTIERREZ Jose Oreca 07 – Gibson 126 Laps 197 20 P2
55 #34 LEDOGAR Come LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 128 Laps 195 20 P2
56 #6 ROWLAND Oliver Ginetta G60-LT-P1 – MECACHROME 186 Laps 137 15 P1
57 #17 ISAAKYAN Matevos BR ENGINEERING BR1 – AER 200 Laps 123 11 P1
58 #94 DUMAS Romain Porsche 911 RSR 231 Laps 92 8 Pro
59 #98 DALLA LANA Paul Aston Martin VANTAGE 6:08.912 92 7 Am
60 #4 KRAIHAMER Dominik ENSO CLM P1/01 – Nismo 258 Laps 65 6 P1