24 Heures du Mans | 16:34:00
Darkness has fallen over the Circuit de la Sarthe. The surviving № 7 Toyota TS030 has been in its pit box for an extended period, & is now more than a dozen laps down. It was mere yards behind the race-leading № 1 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro at the restart following the extended caution period prompted by the № 8 Toyota's shunt, proving that the Toyota had real pace, maybe even the ability to best Audi. More than speed, however, is need to win at Le Mans. The 24 Heures du Mans is Audi's race to lose, & if they do not screw up then the men from Ingolstadt will secure their eleventh Le Mans victory, only five behind Porsche's record sixteen overall wins, & in a far more compressed periods than Porsche's many victories. Nonetheless, Toyota have proven themselves to be a worthy & able competitor; I await the return of the unlucky № 7 to the circuit, & look forward to Toyota's return next year, when they will have a very legitimate chance at victory.

In G.T.E. Pro, the class-leading № 74 Corvette C6 ZR1 has pulled out a little bit of a lead over the second-place Ferrari 458 Italia. The sister № 73 Corvette is running in fourth place, albeit a lap down.

Dawn will break over Le Mans at approximately midnight my time. That's going to be, as ever, quite disorienting.