After a long night at the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Porsche GT Team has the best prospects for a podium place. The 911 RSR with the starting number 92 of Kévin Estre, Neel Jani and Michael Christensen was in third place in the GTE-Pro class at sunrise after 16 hours of racing. The identically constructed, around 515 hp sister vehicle with the number 91 follows in fourth place. However, both works cars have lost direct contact with the front runners. The reason for this are the special regulations for the use of safety cars in the long-distance classic in France.

In contrast to other racing events, three lead vehicles are sent out onto the track at the same time in the event of an incident at Le Mans. The reason is the enormous route length of 13.626 kilometers. As a result, the starting field is divided into three groups. If you drive behind the same safety car as the front, you can make up for time. Anyone who has to line up behind the following security vehicle is immediately behind, through no fault of their own, of at least 90 seconds. This is exactly what happened to the two Porsche 911 RSRs of the works team twice. This resulted in a gap of around three minutes on the leaders of the hard-fought GTE Pro class.

"The night is over - and it was relatively quiet for our works cars," said Alexander Stehlig, Head of Operations at the FIA WEC. “The big issue that we had, however, was the bad luck with the safety cars. We ended up on the second train and thus lost a lot on the two leading cars. We pant after the top and fight. There are still eight hours to go. Our cars are running very well and we have a strong pace, so we remain confident. "

The 911 of the HubAuto Racing customer team, which started from pole position, took fifth place in the GTE Pro category after 16 hours of racing. The WeatherTech Racing team has meanwhile had to park their 911 RSR. The chassis of the starting number 79 was damaged in an accident involving the American Cooper MacNeil early on Sunday morning. A further journey was not possible. The Porsche customer teams also had considerable bad luck in the GTE-Am category. The two cars of the German team Project 1 have already retired, as has the Proton Competition start number 99. The nine-eleven from GR Racing is 15 laps behind after two extensive repairs. The best-placed Porsche 911 RSR in the amateur class is number 77 from Dempsey-Proton Racing at dawn, in which, among other things, Porsche works driver Matt Campbell from Australia acts. The sister car with the number 88 and the vehicle from Absolute Racing also occupy places in the top 10.

Driver's comments on the previous race
Neel Jani (Porsche 911 RSR # 92):“Overall, it's a rather difficult race for us. We're trying to pin ourselves down in third place for now. Unfortunately, we can't do much more at the moment. We don't always have the optimal vehicle balance on our starting number 92. I hope that this will change again in the course of the morning with the associated rise in temperatures. We fight relentlessly, but we also need a bit of luck in this year's competition. ”

Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 911 RSR # 91):“I always have a lot of fun driving Le Mans at night. The track builds up more and more grip. That suits us. However, the competitors are strong. They obviously have an advantage, especially in direct duels. We can keep up on the long straights in the slipstream, but cannot get past due to the differences in top speeds. We have to be patient. "

Matt Campbell (Porsche 911 RSR # 77):“After my second triple stint in this race, I need a break now. After a rather mediocre start, things are now going very well for us. We are slowly but surely making up some ground again. The night was eventful. There were many incidents, often yellow flags and some use of the safety cars. The competition at the top of our GTE-Am class is very strong. We can only try to continue to get the most out of our car. Let's see what comes out in the end. ”

The race on TV, via live stream and on the Porsche Motorsport microsite
The free TV broadcaster RTL NITRO will broadcast the long-distance classic in Le Mans live for the first time in full, after the RTL Group acquired the broadcasting rights for the FIA WEC and the 24 Hours from Le Mans. The Eurosport sports channels also report extensively on the 89th edition of the race. The paid apps for the WEC World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans organizer ACO offer a live stream and clear timing.