Robert Kubica/Yifei Ye/Robert Shwartzman lead with AF Corse Ferrari no. 83 the 24 Hours of Le Mans after the first six hours. The tricolor prototype precedes the Porsche Penske Motorsport no. 5 Of Matt Campbell/Michael Christensen/Frédéric Makowiecki and Toyota GR no. 8 by Ryo Hirakawa/Sébastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley. Lots of battle and uncertainty in the first quarter of action, provisional second place for Valentino Rossi in LMGT3.
The first part of the 24h of Le Mans was characterized by the excellent start of the two starting Ferraris. Nicklas Nielsen n. 50 and Antonio Giovinazzi n. 51 they made life difficult for the official Porsche 963 no. 6 of Laurens Vanthoor, leader at the lights going out in front of the Cadillac n. 3 by local idol Sebastien Bourdais.
The Red team was able to outwit its rivals and tried to extend its lead, the race got to the heart of things after ninety minutes with the arrival of the rain in the first and third sectors. Many teams therefore decided to stop immediately to change tiresa choice not shared by the private 499P n. 83 of AF Corse and Ferrari n. 50coming back after a 10″ penalty unsafe release against the Cadillac n.3.
Robert Kubica n.83 and Nicklas Nielsen n.50 began to compete for the lead, the Pole had to give in to the Dane once the weather conditions improved. Toyota no. 8, Ferrari no. 51, No. 3 Cadillac and No. 6 Penske Motorsport Porsche were just some of the protagonists who immediately stopped on pit road once the rain arrived.
The situation remained stable in the following minutes with Ferrari no. 83 always in control with a fairly comfortable margin against the Ferrari n.50 and the Penske Motorsport Porsche n.5. In any case, pay attention to the Toyota n.8 and the Ferrari n.51, both in action with a different strategy after the first rainy period of the race.
Six hours before the start, the Ferrari n.83 of AF Corse is therefore at the top of the absolute ranking, Robert Kubica/Yifei Ye/Robert Shwartzman they boast a solid margin of over ten seconds compared to the competition. The rain is now back as a protagonist on the ‘Circuit de la Sarthe’, the Official Ferrari 499P n.50 of Antonio Fuoco/Nicklas Nielsen/Miguel Molina gave up the position to the #6 Porsche and the #2 Toyota. 8 after having delayed entering the pit lane by one lap to fit wet tyres. Following in order are n. 6 Porsche Penske, the no. 12 Hertz JOTA Porsche and the no. 2Cadillac Racing.
In LMGT3 excellent performance by the BMW M4 GT3 n. 46 of Valentino Rossi’s Team WRT/Ahmad Al Harthy/Maxime Martin. The crew of Vincent Vosse’s team is provisionally at second place after checking the category for a few hours LMGT3, the car of the Belgian team follows the masters of the 2024 World Endurance Championship Alex Malykhin/Joel Sturm/Klaus Bachler (Manthey Pure Rxcing Porsche #92).
Honorable mention also for the class LMP2, which temporarily sees L. in command‘Oreca 07 Gibson no. 37 COOL Racing by Lorenzo Fluxa/Malthe Jakobsen/Ritomo Miyata. Pay attention to the beginning of the night and the rain, factors that could mix up the cards on the table, in a difficult context, given the absence of hot tires at the exit of the pits.
