After a very wet start and lots of close battles, four hours into the race the two Porsche 919 Hybrids are running in first (Bernhard/Hartley/Webber) and fourth (Dumas/Jani/Lieb) at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The leading Porsche is only 23 seconds ahead of the fastest Toyota. Because of heavy rain, the 84th running of the world endurance classic got underway at 15:00 hrs behind the safety car. It led the pack around the track for seven laps. At 15:52 hrs the circuit went green. In the beginning the start drivers Neel Jani (car number 2) and Timo Bernhard (car number 1) maintained a one-two for Porsche. On lap nine the number 6 Toyota took over the lead. After 11 laps the number 1 Porsche had its first pit stop at 16:08 hrs. Bernhard handed over to Brendon Hartley, and the rain tyres were replaced by slicks. One lap later the number 2 car also changed to slicks with Romain Dumas taking over from Jani. Ninety minutes into the race Hartley managed to take the lead with Dumas running in fifth position. Hartley came in for refuelling after 24 and 37 laps, Dumas came in for the same after 25 and 38 laps.
Redazione MotoriNoLimits