As the clock creeps past the 20-hour mark, the #5 963 LMDh is the Porsche’s best representative in sixth, six laps lap down on the leading #51 Ferrari, after losing time during the night with first a sensor problem and then a cooling leak that necessitated a 23-minute repair job in the garage.
The sister #6 entry was challenging for fourth place after dawn when Kevin Estre made an error trying to lap an LMP2 car and went straight into the barriers. The car took heavy damage in the incident, with Porsche mechanics spending over 40 minutes in the garage before sending it back out on track.
The additional #75 car for Le Mans was the first Hypercar entry to retire from the race when it came to a halt on the inside of Tertre Rouge during the night.
With the customer Porsche 963 entered by JOTA also running into two separate incidents after briefly leading the race on Saturday evening, Porsche’s hopes of a record-extending 20th victory in the French endurance classic appear all but over with four hours still to go.
Summing up the first two-thirds of the race, Urs Kuratle, the head of Porsche’s LMDh programme, said: “The night and the morning were anything but pleasant for us.
“The number 75 car retired early, we had a defect in the cooling system on the number 5 car and the number 6 lost a lot of time due to incidents. So we’re out of the running for victory.
“That’s a shame because at times our pace was very strong. Our hopes of success were high at times but unfortunately, this dream has been dashed.
“Now, we’re concentrating on crossing the finish line without any further trouble if possible.”
Source: Autosport