A dramatic front-stretch accident involving Felipe Nasr brought a bitter end to the Motul Petit Le Mans for the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, shortly after Nasr, Julien Andlauer, and Laurin Heinrich clinched the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup title.
The former Formula 1 driver was running closely behind teammate Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 factory Porsche 963, who had been slowed by traffic along the front stretch.
As Nasr committed to a run down the outside, Vanthoor veered left to rejoin the racing line after lapping the #28 RS1 Porsche GT3 of Jan Heylen. With nowhere to go, Nasr clipped Heylen’s Porsche and crashed heavily into the wall.
The crash triggered the 14th full-course caution of the race, tying the event record set in 2017. That record was subsequently broken when a 15th caution was called following further incidents in GTD Pro and LMP2.
Remarkably, it was the second time in the race that cars from the same manufacturer collided on the front stretch. Exactly an hour earlier, Lorenzo Patrese in the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari was taken out by 2024 Le Mans winner Antonio Fuoco in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari.
Fuoco was handed a 60-second stop-and-hold penalty for the collision but cycled back into the GTD class lead following the 15th caution.
Nasr’s crash was also not the first incident for a Porsche 963 during the season finale. Earlier in the race, Tijmen van der Helm crashed the #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports entry after being forced onto the wet grass while attempting to lap two battling GT cars.
Leading their respective classes at the 15th restart were the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac (GTP), the #22 United Autosports Oreca (LMP2), the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus (GTD Pro), and the aforementioned #21 AF Corse Ferrari (GTD).
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