Giovinazzi Keeps Ferrari Ahead After First Hour

Photo: Andrea Lorenzina/DPPI

Antonio Giovinazzi maintained the lead from pole in the No. 51 Ferrari 499P after an eventful first hour of the Lone Star Le Mans FIA World Endurance Championship contest.

Giovinazzi and Jack Aitken in the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R had set an identical time in qualifying and converted that pace into the race as they remained at the front.

A heavy rain shower just minutes before the start, which particularly affected the back of the circuit while the pit straight remained almost completely dry, meant two additional formation laps were needed at the start.

By the time green-flag racing began on lap three, the track was virtually dry but it was Giovinazzi who maintained the lead at the start and quickly began pulling away from Aitken.

The sister No. 50 factory Ferrari 499P of Miguel Molina dispatched Ferdinand Habsburg in the No. 35 Alpine A424 for third while Andre Lotterer in the No. 17 Genesis GMR-001 was also on a charge as he climbed from eighth to fifth in the first few laps.

Lotterer soon also passed Habsburg before then attempting an ambitious move on Molina into the final corner on lap 11.

But the pair made contact with the Genesis spinning down to the rear of the Hypercar field.

Up at the front, the second of two early Full Course Yellow periods to retrieve debris massively helped Giovinazzi as Aitken got stuck behind LMGT3 traffic and fell five seconds adrift, having earlier closed the gap to around half a second as they lapped backmarkers.

One to lose out as the race returned to green was Harry Tincknell in the No. 007 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie, which was one of only two cars to opt for the Hard Michelin rubber.

He was running fifth but fell behind the second Alpine of Frederic Makowiecki and both of the Toyota TR010s.

The extra formation laps and pair of cautions meant the leaders still had not stopped as the race hit one hour with Giovinazzi enjoying a 4.679-second advantage over Aitken, while Molina survived the brush with Lotterer to keep third.

Habsburg, Makowiecki and Nyck de Vries in the No. 7 Toyota completed the top-six, while Tincknell also briefly slipped behind the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 of Loic Duval before regaining seventh spot.

The battling in the LMGT3 division was particularly frantic in the first couple of laps as the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evos of Gray Newell and Ian James that locked out the front row were shuffled down the order as the pair of Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 EVOs quickly hit the front.

But the race soon unravelled for the Mustang duo as first No. 77 driver Eric Powell was one of three LMGT3 competitors to pick up a drive-through penalty for an FCY infringement, then Stefano Gattuso pitted early in the No. 88 Ford after it suffered damage battling the No. 34 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Salih Yoluc.

This left the No. 91 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of James Cottingham in the lead at the end of the first hour with him enjoying a three-second advantage over James’ No. 27 Aston.

Francois Heriau in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo was up to third while Newell narrowly headed fellow American Powell in fourth and fifth.

It was a tough start to the race for the points-leading No. 33 Corvette as Ben Keating was tipped into a spin by Thomas Flohr at Turn 1, while both of the WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVOs were in the wars.

Anthony McIntosh suffering a cockpit full of smoke in the No. 69 BMW after contact with the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 of Tom Van Rompuy caused damage to the rear.

The sister No. 32 car of Darren Leung had ran as high as third in the early stages before suffering from a loss of power.

Source: Sports Car 365