24 HEURES DU MANS | 01:54:00

My objection to the Ford GT, which by this point is poised to win in G.T.E. Pro. is twofold. One, I despise Ford. Why do I despise Ford? It all starts with Henry Ford & The International Jew & things don't improve much from there. Two, the Ford GT violates the spirit of G.T.—Grand Tourer—racing. Grand Tourers start life as street cars, perhaps exotic, obscenely expensive street cars, but street cars nevertheless. The Ford GT is a race car, designed from the ground up as a race car, with a race car's engine straight out of a prototype race car. There is a hypothetical street-legal GT in the offing, but none are yet on the street, not at any price. Ford may have adhered to the letter of the A.C.O.'s Grand Tourer Endurance specification, but the GT is an absolute affront to the spirit of G.T.E. racing. Ford are such perfect villains, straight out of central casting. (I write that as a man who sports a cartoon villain's moustache, clearly indicating that I'm up to no good.)

In L.M.P.1, the Toyota TS050s are still sandwiching the sole competitive Porsche 919, running one-two-three, though they have switched places, the № 5 leading & the № 6 running third. The Audi R18s run fourth & fifth, the № 8 down thirteen laps & the № 7 down sixteen. The Radio Le Mans chaps describe this year's all-new, all-different R18 as a disaster, most "un-Audi-like" in that it made its competitive debut before it was ready for prime time. Once all the teething problems are overcome, however, it should go like greased lightning. Toyota have never won Le Mans, though they have finished second on two different four different occasions: in 1992 with the TS010, 1994 with the 94C-V, 1999 with the GT-One (TS020), & 2013 with the TS030 Hybrid. Mazda is the only Japanese manufacturer to win Le Mans overall, with the 787B in 1991.

Leaders
L.M.P.1 & overall: № 5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid
L.M.P.2: № 36 Alpine A460 (Nissan)
G.T.E. Pro.: № 68 Ford GT
G.T.E. Am.: № 62 Ferrari 458

Hello, Kitty
I sat in the green chair in the living room, watching the truncated television coverage, for hours. For those hours, Diva dozed on the nearby rocking chair, nuzzled up to the green chair, flopped on her back for me to scratch her belly, did everything but hop up on the ottoman to sleep against my leg. Ten minutes before the end of the broadcast, before Fox Sports 1 unceremoniously kicked Le Mans to the unseen Fox Sports 2 in favor of U.S. Open golf coverage, Diva finally hopped up on the ottoman to sleep against my leg. Diva has the most uncanny timing.