The Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE leads the battle of the brands in the GTLM class in the 20th running of the Motul Petit Le Mans with Ferrari factory ace Giancarlo Fisichella at the wheel.
Fisichella drove around Porsche’s Dirk Werner on the most recent restart after Werner and the No. 911 crew grabbed the lead with some clever strategy. The team was fortunate enough to pit moments before a yellow flag came out.
Kuno Wittmer in the No. 25 BMW M6 GTLM runs third, just ahead of Marcel Fassler in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R.
Although there is still half a race to go, the drivers’ and team’s titles were wrapped up at the drop of the green flag.
Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia only needed to start the race to earn enough points to clinch both for their No. 3 Corvette Racing team, they ran fifth at the halfway point.
“I’m super happy for the whole team to be in this position to take the green flag,” Magnussen said.
“It has been a hard season where we have had to make the most of sometimes bad positions, and I think that is what made the difference.
“We overachieved on the tough weekends and got the absolute most out of things when we needed.
“We also won the races we could.
“This is an absolutely fantastic feeling and a fantastic program to be in. Now on to the Manufacturer’s Championship!”
In the manufacturer’s championship, Chevrolet entered the weekend with a four-point lead over Ford.
At halfway both Corvettes are running ahead of the Ford GT pair.
Earl Bamber runs sixth in the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR, continuing on after a pit fire gave the crew a scare. Thankfully no one on the Porsche crew was injured.
The Ford GTs run seventh and eighth with their IndyCar stars behind the wheel at the halfway point. Scott Dixon in the No. 67 runs ahead of Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 66.
A ride height violation forced the No. 67 to start at the back of the pack and the crew have worked their way up from 39th overall to 15th.
Martin Tomczyk runs ninth in GTLM, nine laps down. The No. 24 BMW was forced to go behind the wall early in the race, but has since resumed.
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