LM24 Hour 15: Happy Hour … for some

The hour after dawn Le Mans is often referred to as "Happy Hour," but while some found things to smile about, others assuredly were not giddy.

Count Rahel Frey among the latter, after her Iron Dame Porsche 911 GT3R got dumped by the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 driven by Clemens Schmid in the second Mulsanne Chicane. The Porsche got stuck in the gravel, bringing out a full-course caution while it was retrieved. The car was seemingly unharmed, but it would later roll to a stop just past Mulsanne Corner before departing again.

Schmid probably wasn't happy either, as he received a drive-through penalty for the incident.

James Calado, however, was likely quite pleased to take the lead in the No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P just after the caution ended. Attacking the AF Corse 499P driven by Phil Hanson as they headed toward Indianapolis, he cleared the sister car before the left-hander to assume the point.

The No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi is keeping it from being a Ferrari sweep at the top, separating the No. 50 Ferrari of Nicklas Nielsen from the No. 83. Kevin Estre was back at the wheel of the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 and had the car in fifth.

The real meaning of "Happy Hour," though, is the temperatures are still cool, but the sun is up, creating nice conditions for setting fast lap times. Several drivers answered that call, with Norman Nato ending up with the best lap of the race so far, a 3m27.043s in the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R.

As has been the story for much of the race, the LMP2 leaderboard has a familiar ring to it, with VDS Panis Racing again on top, Esteban Masson at the wheel of the No. 48. Nick Yelloly is second in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA, followed by Jonas Ried in the No. 9 Iron Lynx-Proton ORECA.

AO by TF maintains the lead among the Pro-Am cars, but their chance of a great result overall slipped when PJ Hyett was handed a drive-through penalty for a slow zone procedure violation. 

LMGT3 has developed into a three-way fight between Porsche, Ferrari and Corvette. Richard Lietz leads in the No. 92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3R and was pulling away from Bronze driver Francois Hériau in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296. TF Sport was third with the No. 81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Tom Van Rompuy.