The number 6 Porsche 963 of the Porsche Penske Motorsport factory team is in an intense battle for overall victory after around two thirds of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. During the night and in the course of the early morning, the driver trio Campbell/Estre/Vanthoor repeatedly completed leading laps. At the start of Sunday, vehicles from five different manufacturers were still in the absolute leading group. The two sister cars of the factory team dropped back into the midfield, partly due to penalties. In LMGT3 class, the Porsche 911 GT3 R from Manthey 1st Phorm is leading the field.
The intense competition at the 24 Hours of Le Mans continued unabated during the night. Due to different pit stop rhythms, the lead changed again and again. Always on the pace: the Porsche 963 of Kévin Estre, Matt Campbell and Laurens Vanthoor. The number 6 car completed numerous laps in the lead. The two identical sister cars lost touch with the leaders due to drive-through penalties, among other things, but are still on the lead lap.
‟We were in the lead from time to time, but the Ferrari are making life really difficult for us,” said Urs Kuratle after the sunrise in Le Mans. The Director Factory Motorsport LMDh added: "We had to take a few penalties. That shouldn't happen to us from now on. I'm curious to see how the race will develop over the next few hours.”
‟When the track temperatures dropped, we were not only able to close the gap to the leaders with the number 6 car, but even took the lead again,” explains Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. "However, our lead was wiped out by a safety car period. The Ferrari have been extremely strong since the sun came up. We can't keep up with them at the moment. I hope that will change again during the course of the day.”
The three works Porsche 963s have already lapped the 13.626-kilometer Circuit des 24 Heures more than 750 times. As part of this year's ‟Racing for Charity” initiative, Porsche is donating 500 euros per lap driven to the two children's aid organizations Interplast Germany e.V. and Kinderherzen retten e.V..
Porsche 911 GT3 R on course for a podium finish in LMGT3 class
In LMGT3 class, the Porsche 911 GT3 R from Manthey 1st Phorm continued its strong run. Works driver Richard Lietz from Austria, Italian Riccardo Pera and Ryan Hardwick from the USA performed flawlessly in the number 92 car and were leading the GT3 category at sunrise. The sister car entered by Manthey was in the top five. The Iron Dames were also on course for a top result at one point, but dropped back several laps after a trip into the gravel and subsequent damage.
The race on TV and stream
In Germany, the free TV channel Nitro from the RTL Group and the sports channel Eurosport are broadcasting the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The official apps of the FIA WEC and the Le Mans organiser ACO offer a paid live stream and live timing. The 93rd edition of the endurance classic will end on Sunday, 15 June at 4 p.m. local time (CEST).
Driver comments after the night in Le Mans
Matt Campbell (Porsche 963 #6): ‟With the cooler temperatures on Sunday morning, there are once again noticeable shifts in the performance of the different cars. Some brands are making significant progress once again. Our number 6 has always been at the front since the second hour of the race. I hope that will continue to be the case. Everything is now at stake in this race.”
Julien Andlauer (Porsche 963 #5): ‟It didn't go as planned. First, a penalty set us back quite a long way. After that, we were able to catch up again. But the pace at the front is extremely high. Maybe it's because the racing line now always offers grip. But that also helps us. We can do three stints on one set of tires without any problems. Let's see what we can do in the remaining hours.”
Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #4): ‟At some point, the front of our car was damaged. This led to considerable vibrations and a significantly lower top speed on the straights. All in all, it was not a good morning for us. But: our car is still running, we are still in contention. We'll continue to give it everything we've got.”
Sarah Bovy (Porsche 911 GT3 R #85): „We were doing really well in the race and were even in fifth place at times – or at least in the top 10 at all times. Unfortunately, our car got stuck in a gravel trap early in the morning. We lost a lot of time. We probably won't be able to achieve a top result now. But of course we're not giving up and will continue to give our all. Maybe there will still be some surprising opportunities.‟
Antares Au (Porsche 911 GT3 R #90): „We lost touch a bit at the start. That really didn't look good. But then we were lucky with a safety car. As a result, we were able to reduce our gap noticeably. In phases with slow zones, we got even closer and are now in the front midfield. There is still a long way to go. We are optimistic.‟
All results available at fiawec.alkamelsystems.com.
