As the final hour of the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans got underway, the #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid driven by Jose Maria Lopez suffered a pair of punctures and lost the lead to the sister car as a result of three unplanned stops
Lopez had to move back to the pits very slowly for his third stop and was overtaken by team-mate Kazuki Nakajima before pitting for a new set of Michelin tyres.
The pair of Toyotas are still running one-two, with the #11 SMP Racing machine of Stoffel Vandoorne in third place, several laps clear of the two Rebellions.
In GTE Am, the battle has significantly heated up after a pair of unplanned pit lane visits for the #85 Ford GT of Ben Keating. First, the Texan was told to come in and replace his damaged front bumper.
Keating was then penalized for spinning his wheels when exiting his pit stall and had to serve a stop and go penalty. The purple-and-orange Ford still leads, but the #56 Team Project 1 Porsche of Jörg Bergmeister has significantly closed the gap. JMW Motorsport still holds third.
GTE Pro continues to be dominated by the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, currently being driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi. Second place is being held by Fred Makowiecki in the #91 Porsche, with stablemate Earl Bamber running in third in the #93.
Signatech Alpine is still heading for victory in LMP2, with Nicolas Lapierre leading ahead of the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing car of Ho-Pin Tung and Loic Duval third in the TDS Racing Oreca.
