24 Heures du Mans | 22:28:00
There was a shunt in the early laps at the Circuit de le Sarthe, the class-leading Aston Martin Vantage in G.T.E. Am crashing heavily into the Armco barrier at the Tertre Rouge corner, the entrance to the three-mile-long Mulsanne Straight. The field ran behind the safety cars (the circuit is so long that there are three, positioned roughly 120° apart around the course) for nearly an hour, because the crash had damaged & dislocated the crash barriers, which had to be repaired before the cars could be released in anger. No word yet on the condition of the driver of the crashed Aston, but all indications are that he was injured, perhaps severely.

The surprise of the race so far has been in L.M. P.1, where the Toyota TS030s are showing pace on a par with if not outright faster than the favored Audi R18 e-tron quattros. The Audis started one-two-three & were faster all through testing, practice, & qualifying, including the first two races in the World Endurance Championship season (Le Mans being round three), but in practice this morning the Toyotas showed theretofore unknown speed, which had carried over into the race. The differing regulations 'twixt Audi's Diesel-hybrid system & Toyota's petrol-hybrid mean that, on average, the Toyotas should be able to run one or two, possibly even three laps longer than the Audis between pit stops. That will add up to several fewer pit stops over the course the twenty-four hours, meaning that Audi will have to be faster on track to make up the deficit. If the Toyotas are the match for the Audis on track, & make fewer pit stops… Well, it's early going, & this time last year the Toyotas looked good on debut, before running into trouble several hours into the race. It is the "grand prix of endurance," & only tiem will tell which race teams & which machines will endure.

I'm so very happy in this moment. Le Mans! It's finally here!