Credit: LAT Images / Copyright: © 2023 Richard Dole
After four hours of racing for 26th edition Petit Le Mans, the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport GTP held the overall lead as the eventful race narrative settled from the major dramas at the start.
With a dramatic opening two hours, almost an hour of which had been run in Full Course Yellow (FCY) conditions, the action continued with 40 per cent completed.
After the #31 Wehrlen Engineering Cadillac suffered the rear-left contact with the BMW M Team RLL behind, the latter GTP only needed to change the front end of the #25 M Hybrid V8.
Out of the caution period, the #01 Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais retained the lead and the #60 Meyer Shank Acura which was involved with a previous incident, gained back a lap thus setting them just one lap down on the leader.
On the restart, Bourdais has retained the lead as he fended off Mike Rockenfeller in another yellow GTP, albeit JDC Miller MotorSports’ #5 Porsche 963.
In reference to a pitlane altercation where the #31 and #25 had run the red light at the pit exit, they were each awarded a stop-and-60 second stop penalty.
Meanwhile at the front, a tense fight developed between the leading GTPs as they managed and maneuvered themselves through the ceaseless traffic of GTDs.
Misfortune struck for the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 which ran strongly at the beginning in the hands of Doriane Pin. They suffered a right-rear puncture, then during a fuel-and-all-tyres pit stop, the rear-right wheel refused to go back onto their car and went behind the wall for suspension failure repairs.
At the front end of the field, Matt Campbell in the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport made a charge past Bourdais for the lead, showing promise in the other works Porsche GTP.
He extended his lead up to 7 seconds over Bourdais, as he made the most of managing the lapped traffic in front of him.
Another FCY was deployed after the #36 Andretti Autosport Ligier JS P320 LMP3 beached itself in the gravel trap at Turn 5 with Jarett Andretti behind the wheel. It collected substantial amounts of gravel in its bodywork as it was retrieved by the marshals.
This Caution was extended after the #17 AWA Racing stopped on track. A power cycle was attempted in order to get the Ligier underway, but went to the pits and behind the wall as the team were unsure regarding the problem which prevented the car from stopping its electronics, which turned out to be a fuel pump issue. It became the second official retirement after the #70 Inception McLaren 720S GT3 EVO from earlier on.
The #6 made its way back out on track in a repair job by the Porsche Penske outfit, albeit 68 laps behind the leaders.
Almost seven hours of racing remained as the track returned to green flag racing, and Tijmen van der Helm in the #5 Porsche took third from the #01 which was taken over by Renger van der Zande in a driver change conducted during the caution.
In his final race for Corvette today, Jordan Taylor in the #3 C8.R continued a solid run in the GTD Pro lead, notably after Maro Engel’s #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 pitted from the class lead but was awarded a drive-through for a fuel stop infraction.
Many drivers and teams were being awarded penalties of several types at almost 30 in two-and-a-half hours of racing, and a major offender was the #88 AF Corse LMP2 with the winner of the maiden Petit Le Mans race in 1998 behind the wheel, Francois Perrodo.
They were awarded a stop-and-60-second penalty after their mechanics conducted ‘more than an emergency service’ in closed pitlane conditions, then elevated to a drive-through for not serving the stop-and-60 after four start/finish line crossings.
Furthermore, 75-year-old David Brule in the #92 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3.R suffered a right-rear puncture after the #88 of Perrodo made contact with that corner, as the #92 continued after making a pit stop to replace the wheel. At the end of this, the #88 received another drive-through penalty.
At the four-hour point, Matt Campbell in the #7 Porsche 963 led the way ahead of the #01 Cadillac V Series.R of van der Zande, and the #24 BMW Team RLL of Philip Eng.
In the LMP2 class, the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR held first position with Ben Hanley behind the wheel, with the #11 TDS Racing of Mikkel Jensen, as the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports was in third although Ben Keating just pitted from second place.
In LMP3, the #74 Riley Ligier was in the class-lead with Felipe Fraga at the wheel.
The #30 Jr Three Racing Ligier were just under two second behind with Dakota Dickinson driving, ahead of the #13 AWA Racing with Lars Kern driving.
GTD Pro was led by the championship-winning #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 with Briton Ben Barnicoat, and Taylor closely behind in the #3 Corvette.
In fourth overall in the GTD field, and third in GTD Pro, was the #9 Pfaff Motorsport Porsche with Klaus Bachler driving.
In between the #3 and #9, the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes of Philip Ellis led the GTD category.
Another Mercedes-AMG was in second, that being the #32 Team Korthoff Motorsports of Kenton Koch, followed by the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Aaron Telitz.
Keyword: Campbell leads after four hours at Petit Le Mans