Sunday, June 18, 2017

24 HEURES DU MANS | 3:04:00


The № 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid has retired, having rolled to a stop along the Mulsanne Straight. The № 38 L.M.P.2 Oreca-Gibson from Jackie Chan D.C. racing is now the overall leader of the 85e 24 Heures du Mans, the № 13 Vaillante Rebellion (also an Oreca-Gibson) is second, & the № 2 Porsche 919, running first in the L.M.P.1 category, runs third overall. This is my ninth 25 Hours of Le Mans & in all those years I've never seen a P.2 lead the race overall; P.2s have beaten P.1s when the racing stars have aligned, but never at Le Mans. Of course, there are still more than three hours to run, & the № 2 might very well chase down the № 38, but of the six L.M.P.1s that started the race, all six have had significant mechanical problems, three of them retiring due to those gremlins (it can be argued the № 9 Toyota retired due to crash damage). Can the № 2 make it to the end? Can the № 38? Is the L.M.P.2 dream about to come true?

Le Mans is always unpredictable, but this is just ridiculous—wonderfully, wonderfully ridiculous.

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