Le Mans 24h, H20: Toyota closes on win, GTE Pro fight heats up

Following the earlier front hybrid issue for the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid that put the car a lap down, Jose Maria Lopez was able to get back on the lead lap after passing Brendon Hartley in the race-leading #8 car with around five hours left on the clock at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Kamui Kobayashi continued Lopez's charge when he took over at the wheel of the #7, posting a new fastest lap of the race on Lap 294, but Ryo Hirakawa was able to keep the advantage for the #8 crew hovering at around the three-minute mark.

With four hours remaining, Hirakawa was 2m55s ahead of compatriot Kobayashi, with Franck Mailleux still circulating four laps down in third in the best of the two Glickenhaus 007 LMHs, the #709 car.

Alpine's race went from bad to worse when Matthieu Vaxiviere suffered an off at the Porsche Curves while trying to negotiate the GR Racing GTE Am class Porsche.

"I went around the outside of the Porsche but he moved just when I arrived," said Vaxiviere. "I think he thought I was on the inside, he didn't see me. Then I went for the outside. He went completely on the left.

"To avoid him I had to go on the grass and then I touched the wall unfortunately. It's a shame. We were working quite well during this night, to crash like that is a shame but it's part of the game."

The Alpine lost around six minutes in the incident itself, and after trailing back to the pits, spent 20 minutes in the garage being repaired, leaving the grandfathered LMP1 car 17 laps down and 27th overall.

In LMP2, the first safety car period of the race put a significant dent in the advantage of the long-time class-leading #38 JOTA Oreca 07-Gibson.

The intervention came when Robin Frijns lost control of his WRT Oreca exiting Indianapolis, spearing