Brenton Grove cut 10 laps in the #16 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG during FP1 before handing it over to Stephen Grove, who crashed on just his third lap.
The car subsequently missed Qualifying and Free Practice 2 due to extensive repairs before returning for Free Practice 3.
The car only completed a handful of laps at Circuit de la Sarthe in the third practice. Brenton and Stephen completed four laps and five laps apiece while Stolz managed seven laps in all.
Technical gremlins returned in Free Practice 4 on Friday (AEST), the only other late-night session outside of Free Practice 2.
A dejected Brenton Grove radioed, “Yeah, I’m going to kill the power now.”
Per article 10.1.2 of the supplementary regulations, drivers must “cover at least five laps of practice by night and cross the start/finish line at least once between 22h and 24h00”.
That meant the driver line-up did not complete the minimum night running.
At 00:25am local time, the team’s representative was summonsed for an alleged breach of the aforementioned article.
After the hearing, the stewards determined at 1:03am that the team could compete under two conditions.
Luca Stolz, who made his last Le Mans start in 2018, must start the race.
Stephen Grove will also not be allowed to race between 10pm and 6am (local time).
“The Team Representative explained that due to an accident in FP1, the car did not participate to FP2 and due to a technical failure in FP4, only one lap was completed,” a stewards report read.
“The Stewards accepted this explanation and allowed the car to continue in the competition due to the fact that the drivers have a certain experience in motorsport.”
The #63 Mercedes-AMG GT3 will start from last in the 62-car field.
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