The #8 Toyota had been at the head of the field as dawn broke at the Circuit de la Sarthe, but Ryo Hirakawa started to lose time with a damaged front splitter and a slow right-rear puncture to his hybrid-powered LMH contender.
This brought the #51 Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi into play, with the Italian rapidly closing an 11s gap with a series of rapid laps.
Pier Guidi was able to bring himself right on the tail of Hirakawa but couldn’t make a move by the time the two drivers simultaneously headed to the pits at the end of lap 207.
Toyota elected to change the front end of the #8 Toyota during the pitstop, which proved crucial in the battle for the lead as it allowed the #51 Ferrari now driven by James Calado to surge to the front.
The gap between the two cars stood at five seconds after the pitstops, and Calado was able to extend that advantage to well over 13 seconds as the Ferrari enjoyed a pace advantage over the Toyota.
During the next round of pitstops, Hirakawa took on new tyres while Calado continued on old rubber, with the gap between the two expanding to 25s as they rejoined the track.
Using fresher tyres, Hirakawa was able to bring the deficit down to 20s but Calado maintained his own to maintain Ferrari’s advantage at the head of the field.
Source: Autosport