The race has changed significantly over the last four hours with suspense at an all-time high: the top 12 overall are on the same lap, and it's no longer the Ferrari 499P's game to lose. That honour has been taken by a Porsche 963.

So, what happened? Shortly before 01:00, James Calado at the wheel of Ferrari AF Corse's #51 Ferrari secured the top spot in the race. But, the 24 Hours Centenary winner suffered a flat front left tyre and incurred a five-second penality for causing contact with a Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R at the Daytona Chicane. Then, the car was given a 20-second stop-and-go for exceeding the speed limit in pit lane. The #51 is now in P8 overall.

Porsche Penske Motorsport's #6 Porsche 963 driven by Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell now leads the charge. The German Hypercar is followed by Toyota Gazoo Racing's #8 Toyota GR010 only four seconds behind and AF Corse's #83 Ferrari 499P rounds out the top 3 at seven seconds.

The Cadillac camp is truly struggling. The #12 and #38 V-Series.Rs are in P6 and P10 overall, respectively. Sébastien Bourdais, #38 driver: We’re trying to hang in there, but it’s tough out on track to be honest. We’re struggling with tire degradation. And we’re struggling with the balance. We’re making a lot of corrections to help with understeer and oversteer scenarios. It’s a bit of a fight with the car at the moment as well as everyone else around us. It’s not easy out there.

Two Hypercars have encountered setbacks. The #93 of Peugeot 9X8 was delayed at 00:13 with a rack and piston problem, relegating it to 20th position five laps from the leader. The mechanics for Cadillac Whelen's #311 Cadillac V-Series.R had to replace the steering torque sensor and control unit (ECU), pushing the car to 21st at the back of the Hypercar field.

First place in the LMP2 category is still held by VDS Panis Racing's #48 ORECA 07-Gibson fighting off Iron Lynx-Proton's #9 ORECA and Inter Europol Competitio's #43 ORECA. However, the latter executed two additional pit stops.

At 03:11, Nielsen Racing's #24 ORECA driven by Cem Bolukbasi left the track at Tertre Rouge. He was able to exit the car of his own volition, but the damage to the front of the car rendered a retirement unavoidable. The Race Director called for the Safety Car to be deployed for the first time since the start.

Valentino Rossi Out Once Again

Manthey 1st Phorm's #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 is dominating the category. The defending champion is maintaining a 37-second lead on TF Sport's #81 Corvette followed by Akkodis ASP Team's #78 Lexus RC F LMGT3.

The biggest surprise of this last hour is the retirement for Team WRT's #46 BMW M4 LMGT3 after a technical problem stranded the car in the gravel at the Porsche Curve. Kelvin van der Linde managed to make it back to the outfit's garage where mechanics immediately got to work on repairs. Unfortunately, after a brief return to the track, the South African driver returned to pit lane and threw in the towel for good. And, in a déjà vu moment from last year, nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champion Valentino Rossi will not cross the finish line.

At the midway point, 57 cars remain in the race.

The approaching dawn usually galvanises teams and drivers, all happy to have survived the merciless nighttime hours at Le Mans. But, many hours of racing remain for which everyone is currently finessing their strategies. Depending on the gaps, teams can decide to ramp up their pace and gain position or put pressure on their rivals. Every decision can swing the race, either in favor or against.

Top 5 overall mid-race:

1. #6 Porsche 963 of Porsche Penske Motorsport – Kévin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell - 191 laps
2. #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Toyota Gazoo Racing – Sébastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa + 4.2s
3. #83 Ferrari 499P of AF Corse – Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson +7s
4. #4 Porsche 963 of Porsche Penske Motorsport – Felipe Nasr / Nick Tandy / Pascal Wehrlein +13.8s
5. #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 of BMW M Team WRT – Dries Vanthoor / Raffaele Marciello / Kevin Magnussen +23.2s

Leaders in the other categories:

• LMP2: #48 ORECA 07-Gibson of Panis Racing – Oliver Gray / Esteban Masson / Franck Perera
• LMGT3: #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 of Manthey 1ST Phorm – Ryan Hardwick / Riccardo Pera / Richard Lietz

Retirements at mid-race:

• #24 ORECA 07-Gibson of Nielsen Racing – Naveen Rao / Cem Bolukbasi / Colin Braun (LMP2 Pro/Am) – Incident
• #46 BMW M4 LMGT3 of Team WRT – Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde – Mechanical Problem
• #60 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 of Iron Lynx – Andrew Gilbert / Fran Rueda / Lorcan Hanafin – 22:24 – Engine Breakdown
• #95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo of United Autosports – Darren Leung / Sean Gelael / Marino Sato – 22:23 – Powertrain Failure
• #88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 of Proton Competition – Stefano Gattuso / Giammarco Levorato / Dennis Olsen – 19:53 – Incident and Loss of a Wheel Nut

Best lap : Earl Bamber, #38 Cadillac V-Series.R, 03:27.534 (142nd lap)