Le Mans 24h, H16: #12 Cadillac out front as Toyota and BMW battle over second

The #12 Cadillac pulled out a healthy lead at the two-thirds mark in the Le Mans 24 Hours, while Toyota and BMW engaged in a close scrap for second position.

The two Jota-run factory Cadillacs moved to the front of the field in the 14th hour, as they leapfrogged the erstwhile-leading #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid in the pits.

However, the #38 Cadillac that had been running second suffered a power steering issue just past 4am local time, forcing it to make two unscheduled trips to the pits for repairs. Jota retired the car just before the end of the 16th hour.

The #38’s overnight troubles left the sister car currently driven by Will Stevens with a buffer of over 45 seconds, with the #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid recovering to second after a fraught night for the Japanese marque’s leading car. 

Brendon Hartley was at the head of the field after the safety car restart but ran off at Mulsanne corner in the 10th hour. After dropping out of the lead in the following pitstop cycle, the #8 Toyota lost further time with a Full Course Yellow infringement.

The latest pitstop cycle put Hartley ahead of the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, although Sheldon van der Linde was closing in on the Kiwi at 8am local time in France.

The #7 Toyota ran fourth with Nyck de Vries at the wheel, with the factory #51 Ferrari leading the two Alpine A424s.

Wayne Taylor Racing was penalised twice for FCY interventions, leaving the #101 Cadillac almost three minutes down on the leaders in eighth.

The #83 AF Corse Ferrari ran ninth, while the #007 Aston Martin completed the top 10.

Le Mans debutant Genesis hit problems for the first time during the night, with the #19 GMR-001 stopping twice on track and triggering a FCY on the first occasion. 

In LMP2, the #30 Duqueine Oreca 07 cemented its lead in the early hours of the day, with Richard Verschoor circulating almost 90 seconds clear of the two Inter Europol cars. Proton held on to fourth place, with Harry King now at the wheel of the #9 machine.

Several LMP2 cars suffered on-track moments during the night and into the morning, with Enzo Trulli beaching the Algarve Pro Oreca at Mulsanne and Dane Cameron spinning the AO by TF car at Indianapolis. Porsche GTP star Kevin Estre also hit the barriers at the Indianapolis after running over the kerbs in the #14 TDS Oreca just minutes before the end of the 16th hour.

#33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R: Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar, Nicky Catsburg

Photo by: Germain Durand

Over in LMGT3, the #33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R moved into the front during the night, with factory GM driver Nicky Catsburg stretching out a lead of over 90 seconds.

The #78 ASP Lexus RC F GT3 is Corvette’s closest challenger in second, with the pole-sitting #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 dropping to third place during the night. 

Defending champion Manthey Porsche holds fourth place, with Ayhancan Guven holding fourth in the #91 911 GT3 R.

The second ASP Lexus was also among the lead group until being hit with a drive-through penalty for causing a collision with the Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.