As the 92nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans hit the 10th racing hour, Sebastien Buemi was in the lead in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar.
As the ninth hour commenced, the race had just continued eight minutes past midnight after a 90-minute safety car.
Race leader Robert Kubica (#83 Ferrari 499P) pitted immediately as did many of the Hypercars apart from Frederic Makowiecki (#5 Porsche Penske 963) was second behind the Polish driver.
The intermittent rain fell more heavily as most pitted for wet tyres, with the differential exemplified when Kubica on wets overtook Makowiecki with ease, before Ryo Hirakawa’s #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid overtook him.
Kubica was awarded a 30-second stop-and-go penalty for incident responsibility with the Dries Vanthoor contact which triggered the safety car period, or more specifically the barrier repair which was undergone on the approach to the kink of Mulsanne corner.
As the gamble for slicks did not pay off for many, conditions progressed until the rain lights were now longer mandatory.
Alex Lynn showcased stunning form in his #2 Cadillac V-Series.R when he eagerly snatched fourth place off Antonio Fuoco’s #50 Ferrari 499P on the run down to the first Mulsanne chicane.
In alignment with the wet conditions reducing significantly, Hirakawa and Makowiecki both pitted and switched to slick tyres.
Sebastien Buemi held the lead in the Hypercar category, followed by Andre Lotterer’s #6 Porsche Penske 963, the other #7 Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi, followed by Antonio Fuoco (#50) and Earl Bamber (#2).
In LMP2, there was misfortune and heartbreak for the #30 Duqueine Oreca 07 with Jean-Pierre Simmenauer who pulled to the right-hand side as his car poured smoke out of the air intake; a slow zone was called to recover the car which was the second retirement after the #9 Iron Lynx Oreca.
Many LMP2 drivers fought with greasy track surface conditions as last year’s LMP2 Le Mans winner Fabio Scherer overtook the #37 Cool Racing of Malthe Jakobsen for the lead before they pitted.
Nico Varrone (#183 AF Corse Oreca) held the lead in the category for AF Corse ahead of the Nielsen Racing’s #24 David Heinemeier Hansson, followed by PJ Hyett (#14) and Olly Jarvis (#22)
In LMGT3, the theme was the same as in Hypercar where many GT3s pitted for fuel and wet tyres.
Whilst BMW WRT’s race was a challenging one with their fate in their Hypercars, their situation ventured further when the #46 BMW M4 of Ahmed Al Harthy spun to the left after the Dunlop hill, making contact with the tyre barrier and getting his car stuck in the gravel trap.
The #46 was the second LMGT3 retirement after his car was stuck in the gravel trap followed by Salih Yoluc’s #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 296 encountering electronic issues.
Gregoire Saucy led the class in the #59 McLaren 720S, followed by the #87 Kelvin van der Linde, Morris Schuring’s #91 Manthey EMA Porsche, Takeshi Kimura’s #87 Lexus RC F and Nicolas Pino’s #95 McLaren 720S.
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