At the Sarthe circuit
Anything but a surprise.
Two-time defending champion and favorite to his succession, Toyota currently dominates the 88th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
On a circuit of the Sarthe deserted by spectators because of the Covid-19 - the total closed door has been declared - and in a gloomy atmosphere, the Japanese are doing the job for the moment, the TS050 n ° 7 in front of the n ° 8.
Passage to the garage for Toyota n ° 8
At 10:30 p.m. and after 123 laps on the track, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José Maria Lopez had a lap ahead of the Buemi-Hartley-Nakajima trio, forced to return to the garage for ten minutes at sunset for a problem. brake cooling.
Recall that last year, Conway, Kobayashi and Lopez had seen the victory fly away in favor of the other "Toy" crew (Fernando Alonso instead of Brendon Hartley) after a puncture occurred one hour from the finish. .
Has luck turned?
It is too early to tell.
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Before this episode, the Japanese firm had unfolded its plan as planned since the start of the race at 2:30 p.m.
Despite the "performance balance" (BoP), designed to slow down the fastest cars and therefore reduce the gaps, the Swiss team Rebellion is left behind by the double title holders but the R13 n ° 1 (Menezes-Nato-Senna ) is only 29 seconds behind the Toyota n ° 8 after the latter stopped in the garage and multiple neutralizations.
The n ° 3 (Berthon-Deletraz-Dumas) follows from afar, with three laps.
The rain, which has appeared in certain sectors of the long Sarthe circuit (13.626 km), could however reshuffle the cards with several showers expected overnight.
What to give a little more spice to the LMP2 category where four cars are held in eleven seconds with the Oreca n ° 32 of United Autosports (Brundle-Owen-Van Uitert) in the lead.
After a disastrous start to the race (water leakage problem), the No. 36 Alpine of the Laurent-Negrao-Ragues trio clings somehow to 16th place.
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