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Hours 9-12 recap: Trouble across all classes

The 80th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has reached its halfway point and the last few hours have come with drama in nearly every class.

The last few hours began with the No. 80 Flying Lizard Porsche no longer flying but rather landing against the wall at the second chicane. The GTE Pro category was seeing a shift in favor of the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari which was enjoying particularly good consumption figures and thus able to stay out longer between pit stops. The ascendancy of the Ferrari was aided by the descendancy of the No. 74 Corvette, which suffered a broken, and lost, wheel. There was some compensation at Corvette Racing as their teammates in the No. 73 car fought back to second in class.

At the all important front end of the overall field, we now have an established Audi dominance. It is an historic one as the two R18 e-tron Quattros are on the lead (No. 1 ahead of No. 2) with the No. 4 "pure diesel" a lap down. The two Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyotas were next. The No. 8 factory Toyota had been a threat to catching back up but its progress was halted by a series of stops chasing an engine problem. The team would eventually retire the car and a great Toyota challenge came to an end. There were also problems with the No. 3 Audi's recovery run as Romain Dumas touched the barriers at the Ford Chicane. It was a far milder tap than his earlier accident and he was able to return to the pits for repairs.

The No. 24 Oak Racing Morgan-Judd had been a frequent leader in the LM P2 class, but its day too came to an end with engine failure. This left the No. 44 Starworks Motorsport HPD at the top of the category for the first time. Running a short distance behind on the same lap was the No. 49 Pecom Racing Oreca-Nissan. The No. 26 Signatech Oreca-Nissan was in third, some distance back on the same lap. It is certain that LM P2 will swap around several more times before it begins to settle, adding to the tension and excitement.

The GTE Am class also looks different as the No. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche is now the class leader. Here too the second place car, the No. 50 Larbre Competition Corvette, is swapping the lead with the Porsche on many occasions. The Krohn Racing Ferrari (No. 57) has had a long steady climb to third place in GTE Am, two laps behind the leaders. One of the prime contenders in the class has dropped back with Frankie Montecalvo crashed the No. 58 Luxury Racing Ferrari, but was able to return to the pits.

Janos Wimpffen

Photo: CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES DU MANS (LE MANS, SARTHE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 17TH JUNE 2012. The No.12 Rebellion Racing Lola Toyota has enjoyed a reliability some of its rivals can only envy.