LeMans Hour 15: Toyotas 9 laps ahead

#7 Toyota leads but not for long
#7 Toyota leads but not for long

With the sun coming up over LeMans, France, the Toyotas have put 9 laps on the entire field at the end of 15 hours of the 24 Hours of LeMans and they are not even trying hard, such is the advantage God (the ACO) has given the Toyotas over the other LMP1 cars. The privateer teams begged God to give them some help, but God refused because they wanted Toyota to have a huge advantage with their hybrid cars that no one could threaten them.

The Kazuki Nakajima in the #8 Toyota continues to close the gap on the #7 Toyota driven by Kamui Kobayashi with the two Toyotas separated by just 19 seconds. The plan is for Fernando Alonso to be behind the wheel of the #8 Toyota when it takes the checkered flag for victory.

Rebellion Racing again swapped positions when a technical problem forced Neel Jan into the pits for almost 10 minutes and allowed Gustavo Menezes to move the #3 car back ahead of the sister #1 R-13 into third.

Laurens Vanthoor remained in the lead of GTE-Pro after taking over the #92 Porsche from Michael Christensen. Fred Makowiecki is closing in the sister #91 car.

Vanthoor had around 2m25s in hand following the 15th round of stops, but the gap had been reduced to 2m22s by the end of the hour.

Sebastien Bourdais remained third in the #68 Ford.

Meanwhile the #77 Dempsey – Proton Racing Porsche continued to lead in GTE-Am with team boss Christian Reid at the wheel, ahead of Jeroen Bleekemolen's #84 Risi Ferrari, with Giancarlo Fisichella only 23s further back in third.

Hour 15 Standings

POS NO. DRIVER CAR GAP LAPS PITS CAT.
1 #7 KOBAYASHI Kamui Toyota TS050 – Hybrid 0.000s 246 22 P1
2 #8 NAKAJIMA Kazuki Toyota TS050 – Hybrid 18.982 246 24 P1
3 #3 LAURENT Thomas Rebellion R13 – GIBSON 9 Laps 237 25 P1
4 #1 JANI Neel Rebellion R13 – GIBSON 10 Laps 236 25 P1
5 #26 PIZZITOLA Andrea Oreca 07 – Gibson 12 Laps 234 23 P2
6 #23 STEVENS William LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 14 Laps 232 23 P2
7 #36 NEGRAO Andre Alpine A470 – Gibson 45.357 232 23 P2
8 #48 LAFARGUE Paul LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 15 Laps 231 25 P2
9 #22 DI RESTA Paul LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 1:40.487 231 22 P2
10 #39 CAPILLAIRE Vincent Oreca 07 – Gibson 2:22.091 231 27 P2
11 #28 VAXIVIERE Matthieu Oreca 07 – Gibson 16 Laps 230 24 P2
12 #32 DE SADELEER Hugo LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 1:35.762 230 23 P2
13 #29 LAMMERS Jan Dallara DALLARA P217 GIBSON 20 Laps 226 23 P2
14 #31 BERTHON Nathanael Oreca 07 – Gibson 21 Laps 225 26 P2
15 #37 TAN Weiron Oreca 07 – Gibson 4:14.071 225 25 P2
16 #44 JÃ-NSSON Niclas LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 5:49.282 225 24 P2
17 #47 LACORTE Roberto Dallara DALLARA P217 – GIBSON 22 Laps 224 23 P2
18 #33 CHENG David LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 2:41.702 224 23 P2
19 #35 NATO Norman Dallara P217 – Gibson 23 Laps 223 22 P2
20 #10 HANLEY Ben BR ENGINEERING BR1 – GIBSON 1:48.108 223 23 P1
21 #38 AUBRY Gabriel Oreca 07 – Gibson 25 Laps 221 22 P2
22 #92 VANTHOOR Laurens Porsche 911 RSR 29 Laps 217 15 Pro
23 #91 MAKOWIECKI Frederic Porsche 911 RSR 2:22.051 217 15 Pro
24 #68 BOURDAIS Sebastien Ford GT 3:03.024 217 15 Pro
25 #67 PRIAULX Andy Ford GT 30 Laps 216 16 Pro
26 #52 DERANI Luis Felipe Ferrari 488 GTE EVO 28.155 216 16 Pro
27 #69 WESTBROOK Richard Ford GT 30.722 216 15 Pro
28 #63 MAGNUSSEN Jan Chevrolet Corvette C7.R 53.121 216 15 Pro
29 #51 PIER GUIDI Alessandro Ferrari 488 GTE EVO 31 Laps 215 15 Pro
30 #82 SIMS Alexander BMW M8 GTE 3:38.540 215 15 Pro
31 #95 TURNER Darren Aston Martin VANTAGE AMR 32 Laps 214 15 Pro
32 #66 PLA Olivier Ford GT 33 Laps 213 16 Pro
33 #81 ENG Philipp BMW M8 GTE 24.502 213 17 Pro
34 #5 ROBERTSON Charles Ginetta G60-LT-P1 – MECACHROME 1:56.309 213 24 P1
35 #71 MOLINA Miguel Ferrari 488 GTE EVO 34 Laps 212 17 Pro
36 #64 MILNER Tommy Chevrolet Corvette C7.R 35 Laps 211 16 Pro
37 #77 RIED Christian Porsche 911 RSR 12.076 211 15 Am
38 #50 CREED Erwin LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 47.185 211 21 P2
39 #97 LYNN Alexander Aston Martin VANTAGE AMR 48.022 211 15 Pro
40 #54 FISICHELLA Giancarlo Ferrari F488 GTE 1:58.510 211 15 Am
41 #85 STOLZ Luca Ferrari F488 GTE 2:16.084 211 16 Am
42 #84 SEGAL Jeffrey Ferrari F488 GTE 36 Laps 210 15 Am
43 #99 PUMPELLY Spencer Porsche 911 RSR 19.727 210 15 Am
44 #56 LINDSEY Patrick Porsche 911 RSR 45.487 210 16 Am
45 #88 CAIROLI Matteo Porsche 911 RSR 59.415 210 16 Am
46 #93 BAMBER Earl Porsche 911 RSR 3:00.270 210 16 Pro
47 #61 GRIFFIN Matthew Ferrari F488 GTE 37 Laps 209 16 Am
48 #80 MARIS Erik Porsche 911 RSR 21.916 209 16 Am
49 #86 DAVISON Alexander Porsche 911 RSR 39 Laps 207 16 Am
50 #90 EASTWOOD Charlie Aston Martin VANTAGE 40 Laps 206 15 Am
51 #70 BERETTA Olivier Ferrari F488 GTE 43 Laps 203 14 Am
52 #11 BUTTON Jenson BR ENGINEERING BR1 – AER 53 Laps 193 20 P1
53 #25 KIM Tacksung LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 82 Laps 164 17 P2
54 #6 ROWLAND Oliver Ginetta G60-LT-P1 – MECACHROME 109 Laps 137 15 P1
55 #17 ISAAKYAN Matevos BR ENGINEERING BR1 – AER 123 Laps 123 11 P1
56 #94 DUMAS Romain Porsche 911 RSR 154 Laps 92 8 Pro
57 #98 DALLA LANA Paul Aston Martin VANTAGE 6:08.912 92 7 Am
58 #4 KRAIHAMER Dominik ENSO CLM P1/01 – Nismo 181 Laps 65 6 P1
59 #40 GUTIERREZ Jose Oreca 07 – Gibson 49 Laps 197 20 P2
60 #34 LEDOGAR Côme LIGIER JSP217 – Gibson 51 Laps 195 20 P2