The #12 Cadillac pulled out a healthy lead at the two-thirds mark in the Le Mans 24 Hours, while Toyota and BMW engaged in a close scrap for second position.
The two Jota-run factory Cadillacs moved to the front of the field in the 14th hour, as they leapfrogged the erstwhile-leading #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid in the pits.
However, the #38 Cadillac that had been running second suffered a power steering issue just past 4am local time, forcing it to make two unscheduled trips to the pits for repairs. Jota retired the car just before the end of the 16th hour.
The #38’s overnight troubles left the sister car currently driven by Will Stevens with a buffer of over 45 seconds, with the #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid recovering to second after a fraught night for the Japanese marque’s leading car.
Brendon Hartley was at the head of the field after the safety car restart but ran off at Mulsanne corner in the 10th hour. After dropping out of the lead in the following pitstop cycle, the #8 Toyota lost further time with a Full Course Yellow infringement.
The latest pitstop cycle put Hartley ahead of the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, although Sheldon van der Linde was closing in on the Kiwi at 8am local time in France.
The #7 Toyota ran fourth with Nyck de Vries at the wheel, with the factory #51 Ferrari leading the two Alpine A424s.
Wayne Taylor Racing was penalised twice for FCY interventions, leaving the #101 Cadillac almost three minutes down on the leaders in eighth.
The #83 AF Corse Ferrari ran ninth, while the #007 Aston Martin completed the top 10.
Le Mans debutant Genesis hit problems for the first time during the night, with the #19 GMR-001 stopping twice on track and triggering a FCY on the first occasion.
In LMP2, the #30 Duqueine Oreca 07 cemented its lead in the early hours of the day, with Richard Verschoor circulating almost 90 seconds clear of the two Inter Europol cars. Proton held on to fourth place, with Harry King now at the wheel of the #9 machine.
Several LMP2 cars suffered on-track moments during the night and into the morning, with Enzo Trulli beaching the Algarve Pro Oreca at Mulsanne and Dane Cameron spinning the AO by TF car at Indianapolis. Porsche GTP star Kevin Estre also hit the barriers at the Indianapolis after running over the kerbs in the #14 TDS Oreca just minutes before the end of the 16th hour.
#33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R: Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar, Nicky Catsburg
Photo by: Germain Durand
Over in LMGT3, the #33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R moved into the front during the night, with factory GM driver Nicky Catsburg stretching out a lead of over 90 seconds.
The #78 ASP Lexus RC F GT3 is Corvette’s closest challenger in second, with the pole-sitting #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 dropping to third place during the night.
Defending champion Manthey Porsche holds fourth place, with Ayhancan Guven holding fourth in the #91 911 GT3 R.
The second ASP Lexus was also among the lead group until being hit with a drive-through penalty for causing a collision with the Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.
Le Mans leaderboard after Hour 16
P
#
Team
Interval
Gap
Pits/Lap
1
12
CADILLAC HERTZ TEAM JOTA
LAP 260
LEADER
22 / L253
2
8
TOYOTA RACING
+46.571
+46.571
22 / L251
3
20
BMW M TEAM WRT
+3.854
+50.425
21 / L252
4
7
TOYOTA RACING
+2:14.090
+1 LAP
22 / L255
5
51
FERRARI AF CORSE
+16.210
+1 LAP
22 / L255
6
35
ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM
+0.726
+1 LAP
21 / L251
7
36
ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM
+27.334
+1 LAP
21 / L250
8
101
CADILLAC WTR
+2.744
+1 LAP
23 / L233
9
83
AF CORSE
+18.761
+1 LAP
22 / L255
10
7
ASTON MARTIN THOR TEAM
+2:06.616
+2 LAPS
21 / L256
11
17
GENESIS MAGMA RACING
+1:25.922
+2 LAPS
21 / L249
12
9
ASTON MARTIN THOR TEAM
+1 LAP
+3 LAPS
23 / L249
13
94
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES
+1:35.716
+4 LAPS
21 / L254
14
93
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES
+43.579
+4 LAPS
21 / L248
15
19
GENESIS MAGMA RACING
+1:03.390
+4 LAPS
21 / L251
16
15
BMW M TEAM WRT
+1 LAP
+5 LAPS
20 / L244
17
50
FERRARI AF CORSE
+3 LAPS
+9 LAPS
20 / L243
18
30
DUQUEINE TEAM
LAP 246
LEADER
20 / L238
19
343
INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION
+1:08.069
+1:08.069
20 / L239
20
43
INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION
+15.646
+1:23.715
20 / L240
21
26
VECTOR SPORT
+2:16.770
+1 LAP
21 / L240
22
29
FORESTIER RACING BY PANIS
+15.788
+1 LAP
22 / L243
23
9
PROTON COMPETITION
+2.960
+1 LAP
22 / L243
24
37
CLX MOTORSPORT
+11.142
+1 LAP
20 / L234
25
28
IDEC SPORT
+1:37.228
+1 LAP
23 / L236
26
4
CROWDSTRIKE RACING BY APR
+1 LAP
+2 LAPS
21 / L239
27
24
NIELSEN RACING
+1:32.301
+3 LAPS
22 / L242
28
22
UNITED AUTOSPORTS
+7:51.935
+3 LAPS
21 / L241
29
183
AF CORSE
+32.133
+3 LAPS
22 / L240
30
14
TDS RACING
+1 LAP
+4 LAPS
23 / L240
31
99
AO BY TF
+1:41.089
+5 LAPS
21 / L234
32
44
PROTON COMPETITION
+40.635
+5 LAPS
21 / L234
33
48
RD LIMITED
+17.552
+5 LAPS
21 / L231
34
25
ALGARVE PRO RACING
+16.159
+5 LAPS
21 / L233
35
222
UNITED AUTOSPORTS
+1 LAP
+7 LAPS
20 / L227
36
3
DKR ENGINEERING
+7 LAPS
+14 LAPS
23 / L223
37
33
TF SPORT
LAP 228
LEADER
22 / L220
38
78
AKKODIS ASP TEAM
+2:08.162
+2:08.162
22 / L220
39
27
HEART OF RACING TEAM
+1:16.474
+1 LAP
23 / L224
40
74
KESSEL RACING
+23.769
+1 LAP
23 / L221
41
23
HEART OF RACING TEAM
+8.896
+1 LAP
24 / L226
42
21
VISTA AF CORSE
+8.545
+1 LAP
22 / L225
43
2
TF SPORT
+4.494
+1 LAP
21 / L219
44
91
MANTHEY DK ENGINEERING
+28.068
+1 LAP
21 / L226
45
32
TEAM WRT
+0.459
+1 LAP
21 / L219
46
87
AKKODIS ASP TEAM
+17.741
+1 LAP
24 / L225
47
34
RACING TEAM TURKEY BY TF
+29.609
+1 LAP
23 / L226
48
69
TEAM WRT
+50.056
+1 LAP
21 / L217
49
150
RICHARD MILLE AF CORSE
+36.139
+1 LAP
22 / L224
50
57
KESSEL RACING
+34.916
+2 LAPS
22 / L225
51
59
RACING SPIRIT OF LEMAN
+2:05.368
+2 LAPS
22 / L222
52
88
PROTON COMPETITION
+24.403
+2 LAPS
24 / L226
53
58
GARAGE 59
+1:32.499
+3 LAPS
22 / L224
54
77
PROTON COMPETITION
+22.983
+3 LAPS
22 / L220
55
10
GARAGE 59
+1:11.006
+3 LAPS
21 / L215
56
92
THE BEND MANTHEY
+1:54.773
+3 LAPS
20 / L216
57
62
TEAM QATAR BY IRON LYNX
+6 LAPS
+10 LAPS
22 / L216
OUT
38
CADILLAC HERTZ TEAM JOTA
—
—
21 / L218
OUT
79
IRON LYNX
—
—
15 / L153
OUT
54
VISTA AF CORSE
—
—
10 / L103
OUT
61
IRON LYNX
—
—
7 / L65
OUT
13
13 AUTOSPORT
—
—
7 / L61
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