The No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage had been an unstoppable force in the LM GTE Am class, leading much of the race. Unfortunately, its front right tire just plain done blow’d up, taking out the entire front right corner of the car and took it from the class lead straight into the pits.

The tread appears to have separated on the tire, most likely from hitting debris on track. [: the team now says the tread came loose from a flat spot on the tire.] Either way, it left the team with a car in pieces and a minefield of sharp carbon fiber bits on track for the rest of the cars to navigate.

After struggling with how to replace a wing that is so borked, they didn’t know how to connect the new one, the No. 98 crew moved the car into the garage. They’ll have to replace front splitter, brake lines, dive planes, and essentially that whole front corner of car.

Either way, it’s devastating to lose the lead like this. Worse yet, the stewards cited the No. 98 for a pit infringement, although it’s unclear whether they’ll receive a penalty for that or not, given the lengthy repairs they’re already doing. The No. 84 Ferrari 488 GTE of JMW Motorsport now leads the class.