The SMP Racing team made its appearance in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the beginning of the season after performing very well in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) last year with a first title win. After having won two ELMS titles, Boris Rotenberg's Russian outfit could very well win a title its first year in the World Championship and intends to return next year with a "house" prototype.

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.

<p>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.</p>

<h2>Hypercar</h2>

<p>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.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>LMP2</h2>

<p>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.</p>

<h2>LMGT3</h2>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Bonne chance and good luck to all the crews in the race this year!</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

The Race has Begun - Roger Federer waves off the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans

Ahead of the start of the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans at 16:00 tomorrow, these stats illustrate the stunning performance level of the field. Of the 186 drivers competing, 19 hail from F1, From rookies to veterans, each figure is a hint of things to come this weekend.

<h2>186</h2>

<p>...drivers of 34 different nationalities entered in the 93rd&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans, fourth round of the 2025&nbsp;FIA WEC. The&nbsp;most represented are the U.K. and France with&nbsp;31 each.</p>

<h2>62</h2>

<p>...cars taking the start this year with 21 Hypercars, 17 LMP2s and&nbsp;24 LMGT3.</p>

<h2>36</h2>

<p>...rookies taking the start in their first 24 Hours. The only newcomer in the&nbsp;Hypercar category is&nbsp;Pascal Wehrlein driving Porsche Penske Motorsport&#39;s #4&nbsp;Porsche 963. There are nine rookies in&nbsp;LMP2 and&nbsp;26 in LMGT3.</p>

<h2>18 Years,&nbsp;10 Months and 11 Days</h2>

<p>...is the age of newcomer, Dutch driver Lin Hodenius, the youngest competitor this year. He is set to take the wheel of Iron Lynx&#39;s #61 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>65 Years,&nbsp;2 Months and&nbsp;25 Days</h2>

<p>...is the age of Thomas Flohr, driver of Vista AF Corse&#39;s #54&nbsp;Ferrari 296 LMGT3, and oldest competitor this year. The Swiss driver has eight&nbsp;participations in the race to his credit, all with&nbsp;Ferrari.</p>

<h2>5</h2>

<p>...women taking the start in the 93rd 24 Hours:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong><a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/jamie-chadwick-intends-to-work-her-way-up-to-hypercar-59730" target="_blank">Jamie&nbsp;Chadwick</a></strong> &ndash; IDEC SPORT Racing&#39;s #18 ORECA&nbsp;07-Gibson</li>
	<li>C&eacute;lia Martin &ndash; Iron Dames&#39; #85 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Rahel Frey &ndash; Iron Dames&#39; #85 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Sarah Bovy &ndash; Iron Dames&#39; #85 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Lilou Wadoux &ndash; Richard Mille AF Corse&#39;s #150 Ferrari 296 LMGT3&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2>18</h2>

<p>...marks the most participations of any driver competing this year, credited to Richard Lietz at the wheel of Manthey 1st Phorm&#39;s #92&nbsp;Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3. Note the driver with the oldest&nbsp;participation is local hero&nbsp;S&eacute;bastien Bourdais in Hertz Team JOTA&#39;s #38 Cadillac V-Series.R. He took his rookie start in the 24 Hours&nbsp;back in&nbsp;1999.</p>

<h2>4</h2>

<p>...is the highest number of overall wins by a driver taking the start in the 2025 24 Hours&nbsp;year goes to&nbsp;S&eacute;bastien Buemi at the wheel of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing&#39;s #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid. The Swiss driver reached the top step on the podium in 2018, 2019, 2020 and&nbsp;2022.</p>

<h2>19</h2>

<p>...is the number of former Formula&nbsp;1 drivers competiting in the 93rd running of Le Mans:&nbsp;Felipe&nbsp;Nasr, Pascal Wehrlein, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries, S&eacute;bastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Will Stevens, Kevin Magnussen, Andr&eacute; Lotterer, Jenson Button, Robert Kubica, Pietro Fittipaldi, Mick Schumacher, S&eacute;bastien Bourdais, Antonio Giovinazzi, Paul di Resta, Jean-Eric Vergne, Stoffel Vandoorne and&nbsp;Jack Aitken.</p>

<h2>3</h2>

<p>...is the number of drivers in Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA&#39;s #38&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-cadillac-v-series-r-under-the-microscope-ready-to-roar-for-america-at-le-mans-59659" target="_blank">Cadillac V-Series.R</a></strong>,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>namely&nbsp;Earl Bamber, S&eacute;bastien Bourdais and&nbsp;Jenson Button, who are left-handed!</p>

<p>Watch the&nbsp;<a href="http://fiawec.tv/page/679a56921229db49627128a6"><strong>FIA WEC live</strong></a>&nbsp;or on demand on the official&nbsp;FIA WEC TV app, your all-access pass to the FIA World Endurance&nbsp;Championship including the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans. Don&#39;t miss a second of the action! For more info, go to the app.</p>

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Key figures to know before the start today

Robert Kubica puts the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P on top spot in the final warm-up session before the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans which starts this afternoon.

<p>Thunderstorms, heavy rain and even hailstones fell on Le Mans and the surrounding areas last night - bringing the temperature down slightly - giving a slightly cooler feel to the Saturday morning proceedings. The 15 minute warm-up - the last chance to shakedown the cars, bed in brakes, scrub tyres, radio check and make sure everything is all set for the start of the race at 16:00 local time. The final dress rehearsal for the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was here.</p>

<h2>Hypercar</h2>

<p>The #83 AF Corse Ferrari set the pace in the brief session - with Robert Kubica managing to clock a 03:26.908 and four laps in the process. Always in the hunt - many are tipping the striking yellow machine to be a dark horse.</p>

<p>The #50 factory Ferrari 499 in the hands of Antonio Fuoco was just 0.123 behind in second while the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 - Hybrid sporting its retro nineties inspired livery took third - one of its most competitive showings of the week.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Aston Martin Thor Racing with the #009 Valkyrie sealed fourth as the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA rounded out the top five. Pole Sitters - the #12 Cadillac from Hertz Team JOTA were just behind - keeping pace in sixth.</p>

<p>The #311 Cadillac made an excursion into polystyrene branding at the bottom of the hill after the Dunlop Bridge - a brief Full Course Yellow (FCY) with 11 minutes on the clock remaining was quickly resolved and the only incident of note during the Warm-up.</p>

<h2>LMP2</h2>

<p>It was as IDEC Sport one, two in LMP2 with the #28 just ahead of the #18 car. LMP2 prototype pole sitters, the #19 TDS Racing car was third ahead of the #16 RLR M Sport ORECA and #16 RLR M Sport car.</p>

<h2>LMGT3</h2>

<p>Kessel Racing with their#57 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 strutted their stuff at Circuit de la Sarthe to seal top spot in the GT class ahead of Vista AF Corse in the #54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3. It was to be TF Sport with their #81 Corvette in third ahead of the Akkodis ASP Team who have been at the sharp end most sessions put their #78 Lexus in fourth with the #46 Team WRT BMW in fifth.</p>

<h4><u>Warm Up: Top 5 Classification:</u></h4>

<p>1. Ferrari 499P #83 AF Corse &ndash; Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson - 03:26.908<br />
2. Ferrari 499P #50 Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina - 03:27.031<br />
3. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing &ndash; Mike Conway / Kamui Kobayashi / Nyck de Vries - 03:29.294<br />
4. Aston Martin Valkyrie #009 Aston Martin THOR Team &ndash; Alex Riberas / Marco S&oslash;rensen / Roman De Angelis - 03:29.343<br />
5. Cadillac V-Series.R #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA &ndash; Earl Bamber / S&eacute;bastien Bourdais / Jenson Button - 03:30.607</p>

<h4><u>Warm Up: Fastest times in the LMP2 and LMGT3 categories:</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>LMP: Oreca 07-Gibson #28 IDEC Sport &ndash; Paul Lafargue / Job Van Uitert / Sebastian Alvarez - 03:38.589</li>
	<li>LMGT3: Ferrari 296 LMGT3 #57 Kessel Racing &ndash; Takeshi Kimura / Daniel Serra / Casper Stevenson - 03:57.681</li>
</ul>

<p>Next up on track - we begin the countdown to the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans. Whatever you are doing and wherever you are - be sure to join us for the start of the race at 16:00 local time.</p>

Kubica sets the warm-up pace in the AF Corse Ferrari as race countdown begins

Road To Le Mans and the Ford Mustang Challenge raised the curtain to the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday morning.

<h2>ROAD TO LE MANS &ndash; L&eacute;na B&uuml;hler and Matt&eacute;o Quintarelli win Race 2</h2>

<p>The race got off to a dramatic start as Louis Rousset (#29 Ligier JS P325, Forestier Racing by VPS) broke through the front row of the grid occupied by the two Team Virage Ligiers (#8 and #16 JS P325) but sent Sebastian Gravlund in car #8 into a spin before the brakes were applied for the first chicane. Several racers were caught out and ended up inn the gravel on the outside, especially the #21 and #23 Ferrari 296 GT3s that came into contact on braking. Race Control quickly sent out the safety car.</p>

<p>Rousset led from L&eacute;na B&uuml;hler (#50), Quentin Antonel (#68) and Lehmann (#16). Antti Rammo (#2) headed the LMP3 Pro/Am field. At the restart, polesitter Sacha Lehmann lost ground in the standings. In GT3, the pair on the front row of the starting grid retained their advantage as Heiko Neumann (#65 Mercedes-AMG GT3) led from Laurent de Meeus (#52 Ferrari 296 GT3). However, Anthony Bartone (#14 Mercedes-AMG GT3) was adamant to join the party and took control of proceedings by the end of the fifth lap and the opening of the refuelling window.</p>

<p>As expected after the chaotic start, the #29 Ligier JS P325 entered by Forestier Racing by VPS was handed a drive-through penalty that put the car out of the running.</p>

<p>After refuelling, with the safety car deployed once again, B&uuml;hler&rsquo;s teammate Matt&eacute;o Quintarelli (#50 Ligier JS P325, 23Events Racing) found himself at the front of the field, followed by Theodor Jensen (#37), Hugo Schwarze (#85), Vladislav Lomko (#68) and Oscar Tunjo (#70). Thomas Laurent (#2 Ginetta G61-LT-P325-EVO, DKR Engineering) led the Pro/Am pack while Getspeed&rsquo;s Steve Jans took charge of the GT3 class (#14 Mercedes-AMG GT3).</p>

<p>Just 11 minutes remained on the clock when the safety car was called in. Quintarelli switched immediately into race mode. Jensen refused to give in easily but sent his car into a spin that ended with him facing the wrong way against the pit wall. Another collision involving the #27 and #28 Ligier JS P325-Toyota prototypes gave the safety car driver no time to rest.&nbsp;Action resumed one final time leaving the field with a one-lap dash to the chequered flag. <strong>Quintarelli gave nothing away as Schwarze attacked hard</strong>, only easing off in the Porsche Curves.</p>

<h4><u>LMP3 Top Five</u></h4>

<p>1. #50 Ligier JS P325 | 23Events Racing (B&uuml;hler/ Quintarelli) | 10 laps</p>

<p>2. #85 Duqueine D09 | R-ace GP (Schwarze/David) | +0.531</p>

<p>3. #70 Duqueine D09 | Gebhardt Motorsport (Tunjo/Catalano) | +2.493</p>

<p>4. #92 Ligier JS P325 | Forestier Racing by VPS (Morano/Roussanne) | +3.011</p>

<p>5. #25 Ligier JS P325 | Reiter Engineering (Born/Valint) | +4.575</p>

<h4><u>The other class winners</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>LMP3 Pro/Am: #2 Ginetta G61-LT-P325-EVO | DKR Engineering (Rammo/Laurent)</li>
	<li>GT3: #65 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Team Motopark (Neumann/Dunner)</li>
</ul>

<h2>McLeod and Noaker put on a superb show in the Ford Mustang Challenge</h2>

<p>While the opening Ford Mustang Challenge confrontation saw&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/2025-24-hours-of-le-mans-clear-winners-in-the-support-races-on-friday-13-june-59758">Cameron McLeod claim a clear victory</a>, with a five-second-plus advantage over Sam Paley (#26) and Marco Signoretti (#97), Race 2 was a much more closely fought affair. As McLeod was gradually opening up a lead on the opening lap, Signoretti&rsquo;s Mustang suffered front and rear damage in a double collision in the Dunlop Chicane, resulting in a safety car intervention. With one favourite out of the running, the odds were heavily stacked in McLeod&rsquo;s favour as another of his rivals &ndash; Paley &ndash; lost his bumper in a knock at Dunlop.</p>

<p>Robert Noaker had other ideas. The Race 1 hero who finished sixth after starting at the very back of the grid unleashed his #13 Mustang Dark Horse R once again and galloped through the field. He was already up into the top 15 out of the 39-strong field after just one lap. He continued to move up the standings once the green flag was brandished and produced the fastest lap (4:19.559), the only racer to dip below 4:20.</p>

<p>Noaker left Belgian Nathan Vanspringel standing ad he overtook on the outside at Mulsanne Corner. In second place some way behind McLeod when a slow zone was enforced, Noaker was quickest to react when racing resumed... and incredibly took the lead! Despite never having competed in a race with slow zones, Noaker showed superb reactions. Could he win after climbing through the entire field? Battle commenced between the two Ford Performance Junior Team Drivers who put on a superb spectacle for the many fans who had already gathered trackside. Finally, Australian McLeod caught up with his American rival and overtook at Indianapolis. A clean, contact-free tussle that revealed the Mustang&rsquo;s dynamic qualities and impressive peak speed. Noaker attempted one final attack entering the Porsche Curves, but McLeod gave no ground.</p>

<h4><u>Top Five</u></h4>

<p>1. Cameron McLeod | #92 Ryan McLeod Racing Cars | 9 laps<br />
2. Robert Noaker | #13 Robert Noaker Racing | +0.174<br />
3. Sam Paley | #26 Paley Motorsport | +3.477<br />
4. Jenson Altzman | #23 TeamFloral | +3.897<br />
5. Matt Nicoll-Jones | #62 Academy Motorsport | +6.853</p>

<h4><u>The other class winners</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>
	<p>DHS: Tanner Foust | #1 Spark Performance<br />
	DHL: Alfonso Diaz | #15 TechSport Racing &nbsp;</p>
	</li>
</ul>

24 Hours of Le Mans – Saturday’s support race results

<div class="donneesIPTC">
	<a href="/wpphpFichiers/1/1/ressources/Image/actualites/2014/fia-world-endurance-championship/11/BREngineering-BR01.jpg" rel="prettyPhoto"><img alt="WEC - La BR01, premier prototype LM P2 russe" src="/wpphpFichiers/1/1/ressources/Image/actualites/2014/fia-world-endurance-championship/11/BREngineering-BR01_l.jpg" style="width: 350px; height: 251px;" /></a>
	<p class="IPTC1">
		&nbsp;</p>
	<p class="IPTC2">
		Photo : Copyright - BR Engineering</p>
	<div class="clear">
		&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
	The first photos of the BR01, produced by BR engineering (BR for Boris Rotenberg), have been released and show a closed prototype. The Russian millionaire, owner of SMP bank with his brother Arkady, has surrounded himself with good people, as he knew to do with drivers since the BR01 was designed namely by Paolo Catone who has worked on the winning Peugeot 905 and 908 of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
	The 2015 program has not been announced, even as the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) seems the most likely direction that will be taken. The original engine will be produced by Zytek, but the LM P2 prototype could also be powered by Judd, or others. It&#39;s the same versatility when it comes to the tyres.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
	While the driver list will be unveiled at a later date, three drivers are likely to be involved in the development: Andrea Bertolini, FIA GT World Champion and recent ELMS LM GTE title winner; Mika Salo, former F1 driver and winner in the LM GT2 class with Ferari in 2008 and 2009; and Maurizio Mediani, present in Le Mans this year with SMP Racing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
	The Russian outfit has an eight-point lead in the LM P2 class over the Russian outfit G-Drive Racing with two rounds left to go in the WEC season, just like Sergey Zlobin in the LM P2 Drivers. The next round is the 6 Hours of Bahrain on November 15th.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
	C&eacute;cile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO</p>


24H LE MANS

WEC - The BR01, first Russian LM P2 prototype

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