Laurens Vanthoor, Porsche driver, currently leads the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with only six hours remaining. Vanthoor managed to gain an advantage over Ryo Hirakawa in the Toyota GR010 – Hybrid #8 car.
Vanthoor and Hirakawa have been involved in a battle for the past two hours, but their competition was interrupted by a safety car period. Hirakawa initially took the lead after the safety car period, quickly opening a three-second gap in just six minutes.
Unfortunately, Nyck de Vries from the Toyota team faced visibility issues and had to make a pit stop while in fourth place. The safety car lasted too long, causing the penalized cars to finally serve their punishment at dawn.
Antonio Giovinazzi in the Ferrari #51 was one of the drivers who had to receive a penalty while in seventh place. He dropped to ninth as a result. Meanwhile, Laurens Vanthoor in the Porsche 963 was closely following Hirakawa, just two and a half seconds behind.
Nicklas Nielsen in the Ferrari #50 was in third place, approximately 13 seconds behind the leading duo. Robert Kubica was in fourth place, six seconds behind Nielsen, with Alex Lynn in the Cadillac V-Series.R #2 right behind.
Further back, Jenson Button in the JOTA Porsche #38 and Matt Campbell in the Penske Porsche #5 were involved in an exciting battle. Campbell ended up making a successful maneuver at the second chicane of the Mulsanne straight.
Hirakawa made a pit stop with seven and a quarter hours remaining. The question was whether to put dry tires on the car, as the track was drying. Toyota decided to stick with wet tires, as the conditions were not yet dry enough for slicks.
Kubica in the Ferrari #83, Frederic Makowiecki in the Porsche #5, and Jenson Button in car #38 also chose to stay on wet tires during their pit stops.
Vanthoor, Nielsen, and Lynn also made their pit stops without changing to dry tires. Hirakawa maintained his lead after 17 hours of racing, with Vanthoor closing in just two seconds behind.
In the LMP2 category, Stephane Richelmi was leading in the #10 Vector Sport Oreca 07 – Gibson car, followed by Ben Barnicoat in the #183 AF Corse car.
Richard Lietz had a comfortable nine-second advantage in the LMGT3 class with the Manthey #91 Porsche 911 GT 3 R LMGT3 after 17 hours of racing. However, the Manthey #92 Porsche faced technical issues and fell five laps behind the class leader.
Entering the 18th hour, de Vries, who had previously faced problems with his windshield, made a pit stop and became the first Hypercar driver to switch to slick tires, unlike the rest of the leading group.
Meanwhile, Hirawaka, who was leading the race, also decided to make a pit stop with six hours and three quarters remaining, exchanging his wet tires for used slicks.
Unfortunately, Felipe Nasr in the #4 Porsche lost control of his prototype 963 and crashed heavily into the barriers.
Following Toyota’s example, all the remaining Hypercars chose to switch to slick tires.
After all the Hypercar competitors had made the switch, Vanthoor found himself with a 20-second advantage over Hirakawa and de Vries, who greatly benefited from his earlier risky move.
At the 17 and a half hour mark, de Vries found himself engaged in an intense battle with Antonio Fuoco and Robert Shwartzman in the #50 and #83 Ferraris.
However, their battle, like the rest of the race, was interrupted by the third safety car period of the endurance race.
This was triggered by Daniel Mancinelli in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 #27 from Heart of Racing, who went off the wet line approaching Indianapolis in an attempt to avoid the traffic of the Hypercars. Mancinelli ended up hitting the barriers and flipping his car upside down.
Although car #27, which had a chance to reach the podium, was out of the race, Mancinelli managed to escape the incident unharmed.
As a result of the safety car conditions, Fuoco and Shwartzman decided to make a pit stop, hoping to gain an advantage. Car #83 managed to overtake its competitor, Ferrari #50, at the entrance of the pits.
There were also pit stops in the LMP2 class, including Malthe Jakobsen and Richelmi, who were in second and third place, respectively.
Several competitors in the LMGT3 class also chose to make pit stops, leading to a reorganization of the order in the three classes, while the pack continued to circulate the circuit under yellow flag.
Vanthoor currently leads the race in Porsche #6, followed by Hirakawa and Earl Bamber, who recently took over the wheel of Cadillac #2.
In fourth place is Mackowiecki in Porsche #5, with Shwartzman and Fuoco in fifth and sixth, respectively, driving Ferraris #83 and #50.
Kamui Kobayashi took on the responsibility of driving Toyota #7, currently in seventh place, while Norman Nato occupies eighth place in JOTA’s Porsche #12.
Barnicoat continues to lead in the LMP2 class, ahead of Oliver Jarvis in car #22 from United Autosports and Patrick Pilet in third place, driving Vector Sport #10.
Gregoire Saucy took the lead in the LMGT3 class, driving the McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo #59 from United Autosports, followed by Jack Hawksworth in the Lexus RC F LMGT3 #87 from Akkodis ASP Team and Richard Lietz in Porsche #91 from Manthey.
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The soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo surprised everyone by announcing his retirement from the field. At 39 years old, the player decided to end his career after a brilliant trajectory in the sport. Ronaldo will leave an unparalleled legacy, being considered one of the greatest players of all time.
Throughout his career, Ronaldo won numerous titles and broke several records. He was a five-time champion of the Champions League, won four Euro Cup titles with the Portuguese national team, and won the Best Player in the World award seven times. His skill, speed, and accuracy in shooting made him an unbeatable player.
Despite his retirement, Ronaldo intends to continue involved with soccer. He plans to become a coach and pass on his knowledge to the next generations of players. In addition, the star is also interested in investing in social projects and helping disadvantaged communities.
The news of Ronaldo’s retirement left fans and admirers emotional. On social media, thousands of messages of thanks and support were sent to the player. His departure from the fields will be a landmark moment for the sport and for all those who followed his brilliant career.
The legacy of Cristiano Ronaldo will never be forgotten. His dedication, talent, and passion for soccer inspired an entire generation of players. His name will forever be in the history of the sport and his impact will be felt for many years.
The world of soccer bids farewell to a true icon. Cristiano Ronaldo, thank you for everything!
