HOUR BY HOUR

Hour 1 1500-1600

The polesitting #8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi held the lead against the sister #7 car driven by Mike Conway after a chaotic start for the other LMP1 runners as Andre Lotterer’s Rebellion R-13 lost its nosecone.

Hour 2 1600-1700

Buemi lost his lead after Conway benefited from a slow zone caused by the GTE Am Porsche driven by Michael Wainwright and emerged with a 1.5-second lead. Rebellion’s Thomas Laurent wrestled third back from SMP’S Stephane Sarrazin.

Hour 3 1700-1800

Fernando Alonso climbed into the #8 Toyota and set about reducing the lead of Conway’s replacement Jose Maria Lopez, notably lapping three seconds faster late in the hour. The #26 G-drive Racing ORECA began to pull away in LMP2.

Hour 4 1800-1900

Alonso led the majority of the hour with a big advantage before a pitstop promoted Lopez back to the lead. The #7 Toyota and the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA punctured. SMP’S Egor Orudzhev moved to third, ahead of Rebellion’s Mathias Beche.

Hour 5 1900-2000

Negotiating heavy traffic, Alonso picked off Lopez on a safety car restart that followed a huge crash for the Bykolles at the Porsche Curves. The G-drive machine continued to lead LMP2, while the #92 Porsche edged the #81 BMW in GTE Pro.

Hour 6 2000-2100

Alonso handed the #8 over to Kazuki Nakajima as their car ended up 10s clear. The Dragonspeed BR1 driven by Renger van der Zande skated across the Dunlop Chicane and Jenson Button racked up laps in the troubled second SMP Racing car.

Hour 7 2100-2200

Nakajima traded fastest laps with Kamui Kobayashi before a slow zone caused by Juan Pablo Montoya going off brought the Toyotas together. The #26 G-drive ORECA led LMP2 and the two retro-liveried Porsches dominated the GT tier.

Hour 8 2200-2300

Kobayashi brought an end to the Toyotas close racing, putting the #7 seven seconds clear. Best of the privateers was an intriguing battle until SMP’S Matevos Isaakyan crashed, freeing Thomas Laurent’s Rebellion into third.