Last year Patrick Dempsey entered the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship with his own team and thanks to a partnership with the German team Proton Competition, also took part in the Le Mans 24 Hours for the third time. The actor and racing driver is taking on a new challenge this year by also lining up in the FIA World Endurance Championship, again with Porsche.

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 #82 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

Ferrari have played their hand - the cards are now on the table with three cars in the top four positions. The prancing horse have the factory #50 and #51 Ferrari 499Ps and #83 AF Corse run car all fighting for the win, with the #6 Porsche and #8 Toyota keeping within 35 seconds and in the mix going into the second day.

<p>What a busy first four hours, if you are only joining us at hour eight&hellip; where have you been! <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/4-hour-round-up-ferrari-battle-porsche-for-the-lead-at-the-2025-24-hours-of-le-mans-59780">You can catch-up on the first phase of the race</a> - before we get stuck into the transition into the darkness as the sun went down at Le Mans.</p>

<h2>Hypercar</h2>

<p>Moments after the four hour mark - we were treated to an elbows-out, wheel-to-wheel battle royale between Ferrari and Porsche. The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport car was handed from K&eacute;vin Estre to Laurens Vanthoor who had to fight hard from a chasing brace of prancing horses in the form the #50 Ferrari AF Corse and the satellite #83 AF Corse car.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Both managed to muscle their way past the Porsche, but Robert Kubica at the wheel of the yellow #83 cut too much on the inside of the final kink curb before Mulsanne corner and picked up a five-second time penalty for his track limit excursion. Despite this error, the Ferraris have been faultless and have turned the screw and are now one, two and three and galloping away in true prancing horse style.&nbsp;</p>

<p>An incredible stint from Kubica put the #83 Ferrari right in the mix and from 13th on the grid the car which was always at the sharp end of each session this week. With Kubica at the wheel - the #83 went from third, into second and then the lead as the sun began to set at Le Mans - carrying the 1st on the number board as it lit up the nighttime surroundings.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The two factory cars had a fight on their hands, the #83 in the hands of Yiefi Ye and then Phillip Hanson could go further than the scarlet red cars and at midnight had a buffer of less than two seconds over the works #51, lurking in the shadows. The #50 Ferrari had to serve a drive-through penalty - dropping them to fourth with a menacing stealth #8 Toyota managed the tyres superbly in the cool night time conditions to climb up to fifth. The gap at midnight was a mere 37 seconds blanketing the top five cars.</p>

<p>As for Porsche, continuing to spearhead the attack - the #6 was now in the hands of Australian Matt Campbell who was clinging onto the coattails of the Italian exports, whilst trying to go a few laps longer to differ the strategy, but still keep in touch. His objective was to try and keep hand over to K&eacute;vin Estre with less than 40 seconds going into the second day. It was 15. Game on!</p>

<p>The biggest disappointment for the American and British fans was the fall of the Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA cars. From the front row - the V-Series R V8 monsters just couldn&rsquo;t turn the tyres on out of the box like Porsche and in particular Ferrari in the daylight and couldn&rsquo;t get the same operating window either - dropping them into a fight for a top six rather than win. The gold #12 and red #311 led the Cadillac hopes with its impressive barks from the engines sounding spectacular as it echoed around the Circuit de la Sarthe.</p>

<p>The #94 Peugeot who has been on a different strategy to the rest of the pack was dicing with the #35 Alpine just outside the top ten. The Peugeot 9X8, perhaps a little heavier on their different fuel strategy, braked a little earlier than the Alpine was perhaps expecting and the Alpine itself missed its braking point - running into the back of the Peugeot, causing them both to spin out at the Mulsanne corner. Both thankfully were able to dust themselves off and rejoin. The #35 A424 got a drive-through penalty as the punishment.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A fact for you - at the stroke of midnight - 15 of the 21 Hypercars are still on the lead lap.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>LMP2</h2>

<p>In the LMP2 prototype class the lead battle was brewing nicely - the #48 VDS Panis Racing ORECA was in second in the first four hours but slowly but surely the French team caught, clawed their way past the #43 Inter Europol Competition car which was looking so dominant in the early stages. Iron Lynx - Proton with the #9 car have staying in third, while IDEC Sport #28 is hunting a top three in fourth -both lying in wait for trouble to strike the cars in front. Spike - the dragon inspired ORECA from AO by TF lead the Pro/Am tussle bt have fallen back in the race for the outright LMP2 win in fifth.</p>

<h2>LMGT3</h2>

<p>To the delight of crowd - Valentino Rossi&rsquo;s #46 Team WRT BMW M4 lead the GT battle by ?? seconds. A stellar shift all three drivers including Ahmad Al Harthy who handed to the car to &lsquo;The Doctor&rsquo; to get to work early in the evening. An impressive stint helped them move into the margin, which lead driver Kelvin van der Linde duly took forward and the Bavarian marque holds a near one minute advantage. The #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm Porsche&nbsp; team have had a solid first day on track and climbed the order ahead of the #78 Lexus from Akkodis ASP - which looked so dominant at the start of the race.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We sadly lost another two LMGT3 cars ahead of the eight-hour milestone. The #60 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG has suspected engine woes while transmission drama stopped the #95 in its tracks on the Mulsanne straight. With a Full Course Yellow (FCY) to move the strikened McLaren, driver Darren Leung tried as he may to resolve the issue - but had to call it a day with 80 laps on the board.</p>

<p>Three cars almost joined them - the #33 TF Sport Corvette, #10 Racing Spirit of Lemans Aston Martin and #63 Iron Lynx Mercedes spent time in their respective garages - but despite going three laps down on the LMGT3 leaders - the cars rolled out of the garages and into the night.&nbsp;</p>

<h4><u>Hour 8: Top 5 Classification :</u></h4>

<p>1.&nbsp;#83 AF Corse &ndash; Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson 134 Laps<br />
2. Ferrari 499P #51 Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi +1.957<br />
3. Porsche 963 #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport &ndash; K&eacute;vin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell +15.274<br />
4. Ferrari 499P #50 Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina +34.635<br />
5. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing &ndash; S&eacute;bastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa + 36.901<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<h4><u>Hour 8: Leaders in the LMP2 and LMGT3 categories:</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>LMP2: Oreca 07-Gibson #48 Panis Racing &ndash; Oliver Gray / Esteban Masson / Franck Perera</li>
	<li>LMGT3: BMW M4 LMGT3 #46 Team WRT &ndash; Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin Van Der Linde</li>
</ul>

<h4><u>Retirements&nbsp;</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>Lap 46 - Ford Mustang LMGT3 #88 Proton Competition &ndash; Stefano Gattuso / Giammarco Levorato / Dennis Olsen - Crash</li>
	<li>Lap 57 - Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 #60 Iron Lynx &ndash; Andrew Gilbert / Fran Rueda / Lorcan Hanafin - Engine</li>
	<li>Lap 80 - McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo #95 United Autosports &ndash; Darren Leung / Sean Gelael / Marino Sato - Transmission</li>
</ul>

8-hour round-up: Ferrari into the lead, with Porsche and Toyota on a charge at Le Mans

<p style="text-align: justify;">
	The first time the Hollywood star came to Le Mans, it was above all to raise funds for M&eacute;c&eacute;nat Chirurgie Cardiaque, a charity supported by the Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest, but Dempsey discovered he really enjoyed endurance racing. Nowadays, Grey&rsquo;s Anatomy&rsquo;s Dr Shepherd takes his racing very seriously and follows a physical and mental training programme as well as taking part in test days. With a little help from his friends at Porsche, the actor-driver is fast becoming a driver first and foremost.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
	<img class="imgVideo" id="3725" src="/wpphpFichiers/video/3725.jpg" /></p>
<p>
	C&eacute;cile Bonardel / ACO &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Translation by Emma Paulay<br />
	Video: YouTube - Porsche<br />
	&nbsp;</p>


24H LE MANS

WEC - Patrick Dempsey (Porsche) ready for the new season (video)

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8-hour round-up: Ferrari into the lead, with Porsche and Toyota on a charge at Le Mans

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