24h Le Mans
20-time Tennis grand slam event winner, Roger Federer had the honour of waving the French tricolour at the start of the race, with 62 cars starting the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA front row heading the field into the race.
The race of all races. A rousing rendition of La Marseillaise, a flypast from fast jets and a sell-out, passionate crowd willing the competitors on the first lap - the challenge has begun. Twice around the clock we go.
The big winner on the opening lap was the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport car with Julien Andlauer going from third into the lead - slipstreaming and passing the #12 Cadillac into the first chicane on the Mulsanne. The #5 pulling out a 2.2 second margin on the opening lap from a chasing brace from Cadillac. Another car on the move is the #50 Ferrari AF Corse in the hands of Dane Nicklas Nielsen who has moved from seventh into fifth.
The man who lit up Hyperpole in the LMP2 battle - Mathias Beche in the #29 TDS Racing ORECA is already storming out front with a three-second gap over the #199 AO by TF machine who have leapfrogged the Inter Europol Competition #43 now in third.
Heart of Racing with their #27 Aston Martin Vantage lead the charge in LMGT3 from the #46 Team WRT BMW and Silver Arrow #61 Mercedes-AMG keeping tabs in third.
We will be bringing you reports every four hours.You can follow all the action on our social media channels - the FIA WEC TV app or through the television broadcast in your territory.
Bonne chance and good luck to all the crews in the race this year!
