At the front of the field, the Audi’s are now almost out of contention. The third place #7 driven by Treluyer is now 3 laps off the lead, as the #19 Porsche at the hands of Earl Bamber leads, handing over Nico Hulkenberg for the end of the race. He maintains a one lap gap to the #17 Porsche.
Meanwhile, the #23 Nissan got running, only to stop on track in a cloud of smoke. This may be the end for the team after a day of mechanical issues. While the #18 Porsche is now stuck in fifth as Neel Jani takes the wheel for the end.
Rain was talked about, but little has materialised, as the LMP2 battle rages on. The #26 G-Drive was only a few seconds ahead of the #38 Jota Sport, piloted by McLaren sponsored Oliver Turvey, before the #38 sailed past with an hour and a half remaining. Both of them went on to chase down the leader, the #47 KCMG, under a minute ahead.
Credit: Ferrari
After such consistent running, the #51 AF Corse is forced into the garage from the GTE-Pro lead. The stop allows the #64 Corvette to catch and overtake. It seems a dull end is likely to what was an exciting battle that looked like it would go down to the wire.
The next highest GTE-Pro car was their team mate in the #71 AF Corse driven by James Calado, 5 laps down, but even they had overtaken the #51 by the time Gianmaria Bruni came out in third, seven laps down.
While in GTE-Am the #98 Aston Martin looks comfortable at the front. They have a two lap gap to those behind, but with a 3 lap gap to the the #64 in GTE-Pro in front, could they aim for the overall GT victory. Meanwhile, various problems for the Scuderia Corsa means that the #77 Dempsey-Proton now has a 2 minute lead in third.
Top 3 positions in each class after Hour 23 of the 83rd 24 Hours of Le Mans
LMP1
- #19 Porsche 919 Hybrid – Hulkenberg/Bamber/Tandy
- #17 Porsche 919 Hybrid – Bernhard/Webber/Hartley
- #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro – Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer
LMP2
- #47 KCMG Oreca 05 – Howson/Lapierre/Bradley
- #38 Jota Sport Gibson 015S – Nissan – Dolan/Evans/Turvey
- #26 G-Drive Racing Ligier JS P2 –Bird/Rusinov/Canal
LM GTE-Pro
- #64 Corvette Racing – Milner/Gavin/Taylor
- #71 AF Corse – Calado/Beretta/Rigon
- #51 AF Corse – Vilander/Bruni/Fisichella
LM GTE-Am
- #98 Aston Martin Racing V8 – Dalla Lana/Lauda/Lamy
- #72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia – Shaytar/Bertolini/Basov
- #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 991 – Long/Dempsey/Seefried
