LM24, Hour 21: Toyota consolidates lead

Hour 21 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was a rather metronomic affair, with no major incidents of passes for position to report until the very end of the hour when Claudio Schiavoni in the Iron Lynx Ferrari GTE Pro, was hit by an LMP2 car while exiting the Porsche Curves with four minutes remaining in the hour, sending him flying into the tire barriers. It looks like a retirement but that is not yet confirmed. The team has however confirmed that Schiavoni is OK.

🟨 Slow Zone 🟨

It's a slow zone in the final sector as the officials recover the @IronLynx_ Ferrari. Crew ok 👌

⏱️https://t.co/4J3q5Z45q3 @DHL_Motorsports | #LeMans24 | @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/bvid54NSIR

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) June 12, 2022

The class leaders are as follows as we head into the final three hours: No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010, No. 38 JOTA ORECA 07 Gibson, No. 91 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR 19, No. 33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR.

With that in mind it’s a good time to go through the list of official retirements to this point, which is remarkably small.

Just one prototype has been withdrawn from the race — the No. 31 WRT ORECA 07 Gibson, after Robin Frijn’s error this morning at Indianapolis, the Dutchman forced to head to the medical center after a head-on impact with the barriers. He did climb out of the car unassisted, though.

In GTE Pro, there have been two casualties, both from the same team, with the pair of Corvette Racing C8.Rs officially retired within moments of each other. The No. 63 suffered terminal suspension issues after leading many of the opening hours, the No. 64 then also hit trouble while leading the class, Alex Sims being side-swiped by the No. 83 AF Corse ORECA while running three-wide down Mulsanne, the contact sending him into the barriers at high speed.

The class with the most casualties is Am, with five confirmed retirements. The No. 777 D Station Racing Vantage suffered chassis and wishbone damage. The No. 46 Project 1 911 had steering issues following an off. The No. 56 sister Project 1 Porsche met a dramatic end when Brendan Iribe had a hard impact down Mulsanne this morning, hitting the barriers head on after losing the rear under braking.

The No. 59 Inception Racing Ferrari lost drive down the Mulsanne straight, and the No. 71 Spirit of Race Ferrari also retired with mechanical woes.

HOUR 21 STANDINGS