24 Hours of Le Mans: Ferrari Leads After Six Hours of Racing

The first six hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans have been intense, with Ferrari dominating the Hypercar category and Valentino Rossi standing out in LMGT3. In the Hypercar category, the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, driven by Robert Shwartzman and Yifei Ye, has maintained the lead. Shwartzman achieved a lead of more than 40 seconds during an impressive triple stint, and Ye continued the strong performance as night fell at Circuit de la Sarthe. Laurens Vanthoor initially led with the #6 Porsche Penske but was overtaken by the #50 and #51 AF Corse Ferraris, driven by Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Giovinazzi. However, penalties and tire changes under the rain reshuffled the positions. The #5 Porsche of Frederic Makowiecki reached second place, while the #8 Toyota, driven by Ryo Hirakawa, and the #50 Ferrari of Nicklas Nielsen completed the top four positions. The #2 Cadillac, with Alex Palou at the wheel, had a notable performance, positioning itself in sixth place at the end of the sixth hour.

The #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID suffered a penalty for an infraction during a pit stop, rejoining in seventh position. Additionally, Alpine had a double retirement with both A424 LMDh cars out of the race before nightfall. The #35 Alpine A424 LMDh retired in the fifth hour due to technical issues, followed by the #36 Alpine in the sixth hour.

In the LMP2 class, the Vector Sports team, with Ryan Cullen and Stéphane Richelmi at the wheel of the #10 Oreca, has maintained the lead. Cool Racing posed a tough battle, but driver Lorenzo Fluxa could not keep up the pace after taking over. Polesitter Louis Deletraz started with a good advantage for Cool Racing but lost the lead when the rain came, and Vector Sports took the lead by staying on slick tires.

Third place in LMP2 is occupied by the United Autosports Oreca, despite a penalty for an incident in the fifth hour. The team has maintained a strong performance from the start, although a contact between Nolan Siegel and René Binder caused significant time loss. The second United Autosports Oreca-Gibson #23 had a difficult start with Ben Keating spinning in the first hour and facing alternator issues in the fourth hour.

In LMGT3, Valentino Rossi led the category in his Le Mans debut with the BMW M4 GT3 #46 of the WRT team. Rossi extended the lead inherited from Ahmed Al Harthy before being replaced by Maxime Martin just before the end of the sixth hour. Joel Sturm, in the Porsche Manthey PureRxcing #92, now leads the category, followed by Richard Lietz in the Porsche #91 Manthey EMA.

Frederik Schandorff initially led with the Inception Racing McLaren from pole but faced pressure from the Ford Mustang #77 of Ben Barker. The JMW Motorsport Ferrari 296 also briefly led with Larry Ten Voorde at the wheel before Morris Schuring took the lead for the Manthey EMA team. Thomas Flohr had an accident at the Dunlop Chicane, being the first retirement of the race with the VISTA AF Corse Ferrari #54.

Ferrari remains at the front in Hypercar while the rain complicates conditions at Le Mans. Rossi has proven to be competitive in LMGT3, and the teams continue to adapt to the changing track conditions. The next few hours will be crucial to defining the outcome of this edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.