The #83 AF Corse team led by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Philip Hanson have fended off the pressure of the factory Ferrari AF Corse cars and seven other manufacturers to win the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the process have become the first customer team to win the legendary endurance race in 20 years.

<p>The 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has come to an end. A thrilling contest with amazing on-track duels, tactical and strategic battles on the pit wall, with thousands around the circuit and millions at home watching history in the making as Ferrari took a hat-trick of wins at Le Mans - repeating the success they achieved 60 years ago in 1965.</p>

<h2>Hypercar</h2>

<p>The #83 AF Corse - bright yellow Ferrari 499P has shone brightly in multiple sessions throughout Le Mans week, but they did it when it mattered the most - on race day. Moving into the fight within the first few hours, the customer Ferrari team had to take on the might of the finest from Maranello and Porsche - going toe-to-toe twice around the clock.&nbsp;</p>

<p>While drama hit the rapid #51 car, the #83 stayed out of trouble to become the first customer team since Champion Racing in 2005 to take the biggest prize in sports car racing. Robert Kubica drove the car home to the delight of the passionate crowd, and as he took the chequered flag, the history didn&rsquo;t stop with AF Corse and Ferrari. Kubica became the first Pole to ever win Le Mans outright. Teammate Yifei Ye became the first driver from China to win the great race, while British driver Philip Hanson in only his second drive in a Hypercar at Le Mans added another win for the British, now taking Great Britain to 46 wins over the last 93 years - the most successful country by driver wins.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Porsche Penske Motorsport were the only outfit to get close to the prancing horses and kept on the coattails all race long, which kept them in with a shout should a mistake come about. That came when the #51 parked itself in the gravel, and a superb job by K&eacute;vin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and in particular Matt Campbell, who triple-stinted the tyres towards the end of the race, which gave Estre a chance of second place. Driving his heart out - the Frenchman brought the car home just 14 seconds behind the leader after 5,361 miles.</p>

<p>2023 winners - the #51 Ferrari AF Corse team had a disaster of a final four hours with a spin coming into the pitlane for Alessandro Pier Guidi dropping&nbsp;them out the lead before Antonio Giovinazzi radioed the team with 45 minutes left on the clock -&nbsp;trying to get to the bottom of a problem with the car. The message from the team - keep driving, keep pushing and destroy the tyres if you need to. This bold call paid off&nbsp;as they were able to fight and pass the sister #50 car to take the final spot on the podium.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Cadillac had high hopes coming into Le Mans this year, and the #12 Hertz Team JOTA effort managed pole position&nbsp;on Thursday evening, but couldn&rsquo;t convert that single lap raw speed into efficient longer runs with the V8 car struggling to maximise the life of the tyres as well as getting them up to temperature quickly. With cooler conditions in the second half of the race - the golden Cadillac fought hard and smart and finished the race a credible fifth.</p>

<p>Recent legends - Toyota Gazoo Racing last won this event in 2022 and will have another year to wait until another trophy can be taken back to Japan. The GR010 - Hybrid was a long shot for the win, but that effort got a little more serious overnight when the #8 managed its fuel load and tyres to perfection to drag them into&nbsp;podium contention&nbsp;as the sun rose this morning. Disaster struck the team in black however, as less than four hours on the clock saw a wheel nut shear off on the front left. With a puncture as well, the car limped back to the pits, stayed in the garage for repairs and 17 minutes later was out again&nbsp;and raced&nbsp;to finish in a lowly 16th.</p>

<h2>LMP2</h2>

<p>Having won the 2023 LMP2 class, the yellow and green Inter Europol Competition team were back on the top step in France. The #43 ORECA&nbsp;was embroiled in a titanic tussle with VDS Panis Racing in their number #48 version from yesterday evening when the pole sitter, the #29 TDS Racing outfit were to fall by the wayside early on in the race. The Polish #43 team picked up the baton, an honour they grabbed with both hands, but they weren&#39;t going to have it all their own way - as drivers Jakub Smiechowski, Tom Dillmann and Nick Yelloly had to fight for it as they were locked into a battle with the #48 throughout the night and into Sunday morning.</p>

<p>To try and get ahead, Panis Racing undercut the Inter Europol Competition squad and in the process were able to slash the deficit with each stint.&nbsp;There was only a handful of seconds between them until drama struck, with 32 minutes left on the clock. The #43 driven by Nick Yelloly was caught speeding in the pit lane and received a drive-through penalty. Yelloly, despite the drive-through, sensed an opportunity with a poor lap from Panis Racing - the British driver passed the #48 with 15 minutes left on the clock and raced to the flag given the Polish fans even more to cheer about!<br />
<br />
The #9 Iron Lynx outfit were fighting tooth and nail with the #28 IDEC Sport car until 3 hours and 30 minutes were left on the clock, when the right rear wheel nut sheared off the back of the #28 ORECA, and helpless Job Van Uitert was a passenger, as the car went straight into the gravel trap at Chapelle corner on the descent from the Dunlop Bridge. Heartbreak for the whole team - so near, yet so far. The #9 Iron Lynx struggled on Sunday afternoon and were tactically passed by the #199 AO by TF car affectionately known as Spike. Not only did the crew in the purple car stand on the outright LMP2 podium - they also won the LMP2 Pro/AM category following a stellar job by PJ Hyett, Dane Cameron and Louis Deletraz throughout the 24 hours.</p>

<h2>LMGT3</h2>

<p><br />
The #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm Porsche was the car to beat for the majority of the race in thr GT category. Superlatives are not enough to describe their dominance, as they held the lead of the class to the very end - with drivers Ryan Hardwick, Riccardo Pera and Richard Lietz etching their names into the history books.</p>

<p>In second, the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 had a quiet yet effective race - steering clear of trouble, and keeping their heads down. They couldn&rsquo;t quite match their FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 class win last time out at&nbsp;Spa - but second here will help them in the championship chase.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>#81 TF Sport with their yellow Corvette turned on the afterburners this afternoon to wrestle back the final podium spot from the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, a battle they enjoyed all morning long. Meawhile, the dominant #87 Akoddis ASP Lexus - the team and car that topped many of the sessions during the week will be pleased with fifth despite all their race dramas, but at the same time there will be some head scratching to do regarding the one that maybe got away!</p>

<p>Elsewhere, just ahead of the final hour mark, the sole remaining #59 United Autosports McLaren came to a grinding halt - almost a carbon copy of the issue the sister car faced last night. This time, the electric orange GT car stopped between Aranage and the Porsche Curves, bringing out a Full Course Yellow to recover the 720S safely.&nbsp;</p>

<h4><u>2025 24 Hours of Le Mans Top 5 overall:</u></h4>

<p>1. #83 Ferrari 499P - AF Corse &ndash; Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson - 387 Laps<br />
2. #6 Porsche 963 - Porsche Penske Motorsport &ndash; K&eacute;vin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell +14.084<br />
3. #51 Ferrari 499P - Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi +28.487<br />
4. #50 Ferrari 499P - Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina +29.666<br />
5. #12 Cadillac V-Series.R - Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA &ndash; Will Stevens / Norman Nato / Alex Lynn +2:18.639</p>

<h4><u>Leaders in the other categories:</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>
	<p>LMP2: #43 Oreca 07-Gibson #43 Inter Europol Competition &ndash; Jakub Smiechowski / Tom Dillmann / Nick Yelloly</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>LMGT3: #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 of Manthey 1ST Phorm &ndash; Ryan Hardwick / Riccardo Pera / Richard Lietz</p>
	</li>
</ul>

<h4><u>Retirements&nbsp;</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>#28 Oreca 07-Gibson - IDEC Sport &ndash; Paul Lafargue / Job Van Uitert / Sebastian Alvarez</li>
	<li>#78 - Lexus RC F LMGT3 - Akkodis ASP Team &ndash; Arnold Robin / Jack Hawksworth / Finn Gehrsitz - Accident</li>
	<li>#311 Cadillac V-Series.R - Cadillac Whelen &ndash; Jack Aitken / Felipe Drugovich / Frederik Vesti - Mechanical&nbsp;</li>
	<li>#18 Oreca 07-Gibson - IDEC Sport &ndash; Jamie Chadwick / Mathys Jaubert / Andr&eacute; Lotterer - Lost a wheel</li>
	<li>#54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 - Vista AF Corse &ndash; Thomas Flohr / Francesco Castellacci / Davide Rigon - Mechanical</li>
	<li>#101 Cadillac V-Series.R - Cadillac WTR &ndash; Ricky Taylor / Jordan Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque -&nbsp; Engine</li>
	<li>#24 ORECA 07-Gibson of Nielsen Racing &ndash; Naveen Rao / Cem Bolukbasi / Colin Braun (LMP2 Pro/Am) &ndash; Incident</li>
	<li>#46 BMW M4 LMGT3 of Team WRT &ndash; Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde &ndash; Mechanical Problem</li>
	<li>#60 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 of Iron Lynx &ndash; Andrew Gilbert / Fran Rueda / Lorcan Hanafin &ndash; 22:24 &ndash; Engine Breakdown</li>
	<li>#95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo of United Autosports &ndash; Darren Leung / Sean Gelael / Marino Sato &ndash; 22:23 &ndash; Powertrain Failure</li>
	<li>#88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 of Proton Competition &ndash; Stefano Gattuso / Giammarco Levorato / Dennis Olsen &ndash; 19:53 &ndash; Incident and Loss of a Wheel Nut</li>
</ul>

<h4><u>Fastest Lap</u></h4>

<p>#38 S&eacute;bastien Bourdais, Cadillac V Series - Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA. 03:26.063 (Lap 310)</p>

AF Corse team take Ferrari into the history books at Le Mans

Drama for the #51, as the race leaders spun coming into the pits - almost ending their race. Now the factory #50 and #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499s are in flying formation as they go in all out attack to hunt for the win. Their plan -  to reel in the satellite #83 AF Corse Ferrari out front with just four hours remaining.

<p>We made it to lunchtime - it&rsquo;s 12:00 local time and we are into the final countdown. With four hours remaining, it looks fairly clear that a Ferrari will win the race - failing any catastrophic events. Was your heart racing when the #51 was in the gravel? Is that the race over? Or is it just heating up?&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Hypercar</h2>

<p>Robert Kubica in his #83&nbsp;AF Corse 499P has been the man on a mission this morning as he has clung onto the back of the factory #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P. Kubica had a heart-in-the-mouth moment as the Polish driver quickly came upon an LMP2 car having a moment mid-corner - Kubica dropped back to over seven seconds behind the leader, but soon slashed the deficit to a second. The #51 is looking incredibly strong, and two hours ago, found another gear, eking out a near 30-second lead. However, coming in for a scheduled stop Alessandro Pier Guidi came into the access road, en route to the pits, way too hot, spinning the scarlet red machine and almost beaching it in the gravel in the process. Shunting backwards and forwards, Pier Guidi made it back into the pits - but dropped into third as time slipped through his hands.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Kubica has shown the #83 has flashes of pace - hammering in a fastest lap at one point, but the #50 and #51 are now hunting in a pack and bearing down on the yellow example of the 499P. Can the smaller AF Corse team hang on whilst looking over their shoulder?</p>

<p>The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport is on the coattails of the two factory Ferraris. The Porsche is continuing to go longer into the stint - but has been leapfrogged in the last few hours - now making it a clean sweep at the top for the prancing horses. Porsche look to have no answer to the Italian machines and will want to keep in touch and pray something happens again upfront for any chance of a top-three result.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 - Hybrid took a trip across the kitty litter on the run up to the Dunlop Bridge as a wheel nut sheered n the front left and flew off into the gravel meaning the black machine had to limp back to the pits with a puncture - dropping them out the top five and promoting the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry.</p>

<p>Elsewhere, tiredness crept into Jules Gounon&rsquo;s stint, just minutes after our 08:00 update. Inside the #36 Alpine A424, the Frenchman misjudged his braking point at the bottom of the Mulsanne - dropping his blue Alpine Endurance Team machine into the gravel trap. Thankfully the recovery team could retrieve the stricken car and put it back on terra firma under a Full Course Yellow (FCY).<br />
<br />
The #15 BMW was slightly luckier, going off on the same corner, but thankfully the BMW M Hybrid V8 was able to plough its way through the loose, and flirt its way past the barrier and exit back onto the race track without losing too much time.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
Since our last update we have sadly lost the other Cadillac from the USA with the #311 Whelan effort - which was the American bastion of hope last night for a podium. The red car has been sidelined as it came to a grinding halt - parked up on the outside of turn one. The British-run Hertz Team JOTA Cadillacs are still in the race with the pole sitting #12 in fifth and the #38 just fighting on the fringe of the top ten.<br />
<br />
British interest has peaked this year with the return of Aston Martin to the top-flight. The #007 and #009 Valkyries have run faultlessly so far - a great accolade for any new car. The #009 is ahead of the #007 - circulating in 16th.</p>

<p>Regarding cars on the leading lap - there are still eight Hypercars within two minutes 45 seconds of each other after 20 hours of racing!</p>

<h2>LMP2</h2>

<p>It&rsquo;s brewing nicely in the LMP2 ORECA battle. The #43 Inter Europol Competition team were charging off to the finish, but the #48 #VDS Panis Racing team in the seven hours remaining mark adjusted their strategy and pitting ahead of the Polish team had slashed the gap to approximately 16 seconds. The French team can almost see their rivals up the road! The #9 Iron Lynx is still on track for a podium, but have a closing #28 IDEC Sport machine hunting them down. Spike the dragon - aka the purple #199 AO by TF car is leading the Pro/AM category and playing their cards right, and with any misfortune to the cars in front, could also challenge for a rostrum.</p>

<h2>LMGT3</h2>

<p>The #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm Porsche is still not looking back and is extending its lead with every lap and every stint and look untouchable. The #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 still holds second, but need to just be wary of the star at the 20 hour mark - Mattia Drudi who has grabbed the #27 Heat of Racing Team Aston Martin by the scruff of its neck to haul it into third ahead of the #81 TF Sport Corvette and #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus which has taken their drive through penalty after contact with the Iron Dames Porsche.</p>

<p>Disaster struck the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus with just under five hours to go as Finn Gehrsitz ran wide at the Porsche Curves, colliding with the barrier and ripping panels off the Lexus. A very brief FCY was called upon for the marshals to sweep up the gravel and debris.&nbsp;</p>

<h4><u>After 20&nbsp;hours Top 5 overall:</u></h4>

<p>1. #83 Ferrari 499P -&nbsp;AF Corse &ndash; Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson - 321 Laps<br />
2.&nbsp;#50 Ferrari 499P -&nbsp;Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina +32.915<br />
3. #51 Ferrari 499P -&nbsp;Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi&nbsp;+45.664<br />
4.&nbsp;#6 Porsche 963 -&nbsp;Porsche Penske Motorsport &ndash; K&eacute;vin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell +56.407<br />
5. #12&nbsp;Cadillac V-Series.R - Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA &ndash; Will Stevens / Norman Nato / Alex Lynn</p>

<h4><u>Leaders in the other categories:</u></h4>

<p>LMP2: #43 Oreca 07-Gibson #43 Inter Europol Competition &ndash; Jakub Smiechowski / Tom Dillmann / Nick Yelloly<br />
LMGT3: #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 of Manthey 1ST Phorm &ndash; Ryan Hardwick / Riccardo Pera / Richard Lietz</p>

<h4><u>Retirements:</u></h4>

<p>#311&nbsp;Cadillac V-Series.R - Cadillac Whelan -&nbsp;Jack Aitken / Felipe Drugovich / Frederik Vesti - Mechanical&nbsp;<br />
#18 Oreca 07-Gibson - IDEC Sport &ndash; Jamie Chadwick / Mathys Jaubert / Andr&eacute; Lotterer - Lost a wheel<br />
#54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 - Vista AF Corse &ndash; Thomas Flohr / Francesco Castellacci / Davide Rigon - Mechanical<br />
#101 Cadillac V-Series.R - Cadillac WTR &ndash; Ricky Taylor / Jordan Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque -&nbsp; Engine<br />
#24 ORECA 07-Gibson of Nielsen Racing &ndash; Naveen Rao / Cem Bolukbasi / Colin Braun (LMP2 Pro/Am) &ndash; Incident<br />
#46 BMW M4 LMGT3 of Team WRT &ndash; Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde &ndash; Mechanical Problem<br />
#60 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 of Iron Lynx &ndash; Andrew Gilbert / Fran Rueda / Lorcan Hanafin &ndash; 22:24 &ndash; Engine Breakdown<br />
#95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo of United Autosports &ndash; Darren Leung / Sean Gelael / Marino Sato &ndash; 22:23 &ndash; Powertrain Failure<br />
#88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 of Proton Competition &ndash; Stefano Gattuso / Giammarco Levorato / Dennis Olsen &ndash; 19:53 &ndash; Incident and Loss of a Wheel Nut</p>

<h4><u>Fastest Lap</u></h4>

<p>#38&nbsp;S&eacute;bastien Bourdais, Cadillac&nbsp;V Series - Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA. 03:26.063 (Lap 310)</p>

20-hour round-up: Ferrari occupy top three despite lead dropping scare for the #51

Me and my shadow for first and second place, as the factory #51 Ferrari AF Corse and #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P are preparing to lock horns in the final phase of the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans - the pair nose to tail and seconds apart on the road.

<p>Good morning from Le Mans. The sun has come up and we are well over the halfway mark - but we still have eight hours on the clock. Plenty of mileage and plenty of time for drama to spill over. Here&rsquo;s what has happened in the early hours this morning.</p>

<h2>Hypercar</h2>

<p>At 01:00 on Sunday morning, James Calado at the wheel of the #51 Ferrari AF Corse&nbsp;secured the top spot in the race but then suffered a flat front left tyre and a five-second penalty for causing contact with a LMGT3 Corvette -&nbsp;the 2023 race winners had it all to do. Oh, and then the car was given a 20-second stop-and-go for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane. The #51 knuckled down and dug deep under the cloak of darkness like they only know how and are now&nbsp;back at the top of the tree - just... as the sun broke cover.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Chasing them and pushing them all the way, just a handful of seconds back is the #83 AF Corse Ferrari - the constant thorn in the side for three Le Mans victories in a row for the factory cars from Maranello.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The front two have broken away, but in touching distance is the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport effort being watched closely by the #50 Ferrari - which&nbsp;is doing everything it can to make it a one, two, three for the prancing horse.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>On the lead lap but currently only fighting for a top five and praying something happens to those in front are the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing, #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA and #15 BMW M Team WRT efforts. The #12 golden Cadillac has had a spurt in pace with the cooler conditions helping the Anglo-American team to manage the tyres more efficiently. Their pace is undeniable as Norman Nato on the 232nd lap set the fastest time of the race with a 2:27:043 - under the lap record from last year by two tenths.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Speaking of Cadillac - we lost out first Hypercar - with the #101 Cadillac #101 entry retiring with a wounded engine.</p>

<h2>LMP2</h2>

<p>It&rsquo;s been a nip and tuck affair in the LMP2 prototypes for&nbsp;the lead car - the #48 #VDS Panis Racing ORECA has been leapfrogged by the early race leaders #43 Inter Europol Competition - shifting their strategy with an additional pair of pit stops to undercut the #48 and slide into the lead. The #9 Iron Lynx effort has been constantly there or thereabouts, trying to hang onto the coattails of the pair in front - but dropping away from the fight for the win.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sadly since our last report, we have lost the #18 IDEC Sports, losing a wheel this morning.</p>

<h2>LMGT3</h2>

<p>The #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm Porsche has been metronomic in its approach - dominating the proceedings with almost a minute in hand from the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 and on the rise #81 TF Sport Corvette, who over the course of the night has worked its way up the leaderboard and passed the pair of Lexus&rsquo; run by the French Akkodis ASP Team - who were one of the favourites for the GT class victory. The #87 received a drive-through for making contact with the Iron Dames #85 Porsche as the sun came up.</p>

<p>Sadly, Valentino Rossi and his team are out of the 2025 event in the #46 Team WRT BMW. We have also lost the #54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 from Vista AF Corse since our last update.</p>

<h4><u>After 16 hours Top 5 overall:</u></h4>

<p>1. #51 Ferrari 499P -&nbsp;Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi - 259 Lap<br />
2. #83 Ferrari 499P -&nbsp;AF Corse &ndash; Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson +9.209s<br />
3. #6 Porsche 963 - Porsche Penske Motorsport &ndash; K&eacute;vin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell +39.855s<br />
4. #50 Ferrari 499P - Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina +59.432s<br />
5. #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid -&nbsp;Toyota Gazoo Racing &ndash; S&eacute;bastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa +1:04.2s</p>

<h4><u>Leaders in the other categories:</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>LMP2: #43 Oreca 07-Gibson #43 Inter Europol Competition &ndash; Jakub Smiechowski / Tom Dillmann / Nick Yelloly</li>
	<li>LMGT3: #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 of Manthey 1ST Phorm &ndash; Ryan Hardwick / Riccardo Pera / Richard Lietz</li>
</ul>

<h4><u>Retirements at mid-race:</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>#18 Oreca 07-Gibson - IDEC Sport &ndash; Jamie Chadwick / Mathys Jaubert / Andr&eacute; Lotterer - Lost a wheel</li>
	<li>#54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 - Vista AF Corse &ndash; Thomas Flohr / Francesco Castellacci / Davide Rigon - Mechanical</li>
	<li>#101 Cadillac V-Series.R - Cadillac WTR &ndash; Ricky Taylor / Jordan Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque -&nbsp; Engine</li>
	<li>#24 ORECA 07-Gibson of Nielsen Racing &ndash; Naveen Rao / Cem Bolukbasi / Colin Braun (LMP2 Pro/Am) &ndash; Incident</li>
	<li>#46 BMW M4 LMGT3 of Team WRT &ndash; Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde &ndash; Mechanical Problem</li>
	<li>#60 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 of Iron Lynx &ndash; Andrew Gilbert / Fran Rueda / Lorcan Hanafin &ndash; 22:24 &ndash; Engine Breakdown</li>
	<li>#95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo of United Autosports &ndash; Darren Leung / Sean Gelael / Marino Sato &ndash; 22:23 &ndash; Powertrain Failure</li>
</ul>

<p>#88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 of Proton Competition &ndash; Stefano Gattuso / Giammarco Levorato / Dennis Olsen &ndash; 19:53 &ndash; Incident and Loss of a Wheel Nut<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<h4><u>Fastest Lap</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>#12 Norman Nato, Cadillac&nbsp;V Series - Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA. 03:27.043 (Lap&nbsp;232)</li>
</ul>

16-hour round-up: Two horse Ferrari race bolt away, with Porsche the last threat

At the mid-race point, the tension in mounting. After several twists and turns, Porsche Penske Motorsport's #6 Porsche 963 has slipped into P1 ahead of the #8 Toyota as a penalised Ferrari trails. In LMGT3, Valentino Rossi has once again been forced to retire. The night has claimed its first victims, but the race is far from over.

<p>The race&nbsp;has changed significantly&nbsp;over the last four hours with&nbsp;suspense at an all-time high: the top 12 overall are on the same lap, and it&#39;s no longer&nbsp;the Ferrari 499P&#39;s game to lose. That honour has been taken by a Porsche 963.</p>

<p>So, what happened? Shortly before 01:00, James Calado at the wheel of Ferrari AF Corse&#39;s #51&nbsp;Ferrari&nbsp;secured&nbsp;the top spot&nbsp;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&nbsp;Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R at the Daytona Chicane. Then, the car was given a 20-second&nbsp;stop-and-go for exceeding the speed limit in pit lane. The #51 is now in P8 overall.</p>

<p>Porsche Penske Motorsport&#39;s #6 Porsche 963 driven by&nbsp;Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and&nbsp;Matt Campbell now leads the charge. The German Hypercar is followed&nbsp;by Toyota Gazoo Racing&#39;s #8&nbsp;Toyota GR010&nbsp;only four seconds behind and AF Corse&#39;s #83&nbsp;Ferrari 499P rounds out the top 3 at seven seconds.</p>

<p>The Cadillac camp is truly struggling. The #12 and #38&nbsp;V-Series.Rs are in P6 and P10 overall,&nbsp;respectively. <strong>S&eacute;bastien Bourdais</strong>, #38 driver: <em>We&rsquo;re trying to hang in there, but it&rsquo;s tough out on track to be honest. We&rsquo;re struggling with tire degradation. And we&rsquo;re struggling with the balance. We&rsquo;re making a lot of corrections to help with understeer and oversteer scenarios. It&rsquo;s a bit of a fight with the car at the moment as well as everyone else around us. It&rsquo;s not easy out there.</em></p>

<p>Two&nbsp;Hypercars have encountered setbacks. The #93 of&nbsp;Peugeot 9X8 was delayed at&nbsp;00:13 with a rack and piston problem, relegating it to&nbsp;20th&nbsp;position five laps from the leader. The mechanics for&nbsp;Cadillac Whelen&#39;s&nbsp;#311 Cadillac V-Series.R&nbsp;had to replace&nbsp;the steering torque sensor and control unit (ECU), pushing the car to 21st at the back of the Hypercar field.</p>

<p>First place in the&nbsp;LMP2 category is still held by VDS Panis Racing&#39;s #48 ORECA&nbsp;07-Gibson fighting off Iron Lynx-Proton&#39;s #9 ORECA and Inter Europol Competitio&#39;s #43 ORECA. However, the latter executed two additional pit stops.</p>

<p>At 03:11, Nielsen Racing&#39;s #24 ORECA driven by&nbsp;Cem Bolukbasi left the track at&nbsp;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.</p>

<h2>Valentino Rossi Out Once Again</h2>

<p>Manthey 1st Phorm&#39;s #92&nbsp;Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 is dominating&nbsp;the category. The defending champion is maintaining&nbsp;a 37-second lead on TF Sport&#39;s #81&nbsp;Corvette followed by Akkodis ASP Team&#39;s #78&nbsp;Lexus RC F LMGT3.</p>

<p>The biggest surprise of this last hour&nbsp;is the retirement for Team WRT&#39;s #46&nbsp;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&#39;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 d&eacute;j&agrave; vu moment from last year,&nbsp;nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champion Valentino Rossi will not cross the finish line.</p>

<p>At the midway point, 57 cars remain in the race.</p>

<p>The approaching dawn usually galvanises teams and drivers, all happy to have survived the merciless&nbsp;nighttime hours at Le&nbsp;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&nbsp;their pace and&nbsp;gain position&nbsp;or put pressure on their rivals. Every decision can swing the race, either in favor or against.</p>

<h4><u>Top 5 overall mid-race:</u></h4>

<p>1. #6 Porsche 963 of&nbsp;Porsche Penske Motorsport &ndash; K&eacute;vin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell - 191 laps<br />
2. #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Toyota Gazoo Racing &ndash; S&eacute;bastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa + 4.2s<br />
3. #83 Ferrari 499P of&nbsp;AF Corse &ndash; Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson +7s<br />
4. #4 Porsche 963 of Porsche Penske Motorsport &ndash; Felipe Nasr / Nick Tandy / Pascal Wehrlein +13.8s<br />
5. #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 of&nbsp;BMW M Team WRT &ndash; Dries Vanthoor / Raffaele Marciello / Kevin Magnussen +23.2s</p>

<h4>Leaders in the other&nbsp;categories:</h4>

<ul>
	<li>LMP2: #48 ORECA&nbsp;07-Gibson of&nbsp;Panis Racing &ndash; Oliver Gray / Esteban Masson / Franck Perera</li>
	<li>LMGT3: #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 of&nbsp;Manthey 1ST Phorm &ndash; Ryan Hardwick / Riccardo Pera / Richard Lietz</li>
</ul>

<h4>Retirements at mid-race:</h4>

<ul>
	<li>#24 ORECA&nbsp;07-Gibson of&nbsp;Nielsen Racing &ndash; Naveen Rao / Cem Bolukbasi / Colin Braun (LMP2 Pro/Am) &ndash; Incident</li>
	<li>#46 BMW M4 LMGT3 of&nbsp;Team WRT &ndash; Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde &ndash; Mechanical Problem</li>
	<li>#60 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 of&nbsp;Iron Lynx &ndash; Andrew Gilbert / Fran Rueda / Lorcan Hanafin &ndash; 22:24 &ndash; Engine Breakdown</li>
	<li>#95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo of&nbsp;United Autosports &ndash; Darren Leung / Sean Gelael / Marino Sato &ndash; 22:23 &ndash; Powertrain Failure</li>
	<li>#88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 of&nbsp;Proton Competition &ndash; Stefano Gattuso / Giammarco Levorato / Dennis Olsen &ndash; 19:53 &ndash; Incident and Loss of a Wheel Nut</li>
</ul>

<p><u>Best lap</u>&nbsp;: Earl Bamber, #38 Cadillac V-Series.R,&nbsp;03:27.534 (142nd lap)</p>

12-hour round-up: Porsche snatches the lead, Ferrari falls back

<div class="donneesIPTC">
	<br />
	<img src="/wpphpFichiers/Albums/13/89/2012-24-Heures-du-Mans--DBA-1224A-IMG-5127_n.jpg" />
	<p>
		Photo : David BRISTOL - ACO/Nikon</p>
</div>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">
	The countdown to the 80th 24 Hours of Le Mans race has started with the traditional placing of the cars in the &#39;ear of corn&#39; formation alongside the pit wall. &nbsp;</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">
	The 56 cars are placed diagonally facing towards the start and, when the national anthem is played, nine mechanics and the three drivers will line up alongside their cars. &nbsp;Then they will take to the track before returning to reclaim their place on the starting grid. &nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">
	To remind you, the cars will be unleashed at 1500 hours precisely to start 24 hours of excitement and racing.</p>
<p>
	<strong>David Bristol&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p align="center">
	<a href="http://live.lemans-tv.com/fr/" target="_blank">&gt;&gt; Acc&egrave;s &agrave; la Web TV &lt;&lt;</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">
	<strong>Photo : CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES DU MANS (LE MANS, SARTHE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, CARS IN EAR OF CORN FORMATION BEFORE THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 16TH JUNE 2012.</strong></p>


24H LE MANS

Cars are put into the 'Ears of Corn' formation for 24H

The countdown to the 80th 24 Hours of Le Mans race has started with the traditional placing of the cars in the 'ear of corn' formation alongside the pit wall.

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