The first 90 minutes of the race finished with Neel Jani in the no14 Porsche 919 hybrid where he started at the head of the field. The Porsche was 13 seconds ahead of the no8 Toyota TS040 of Sebastien Buemi and no1 Audi of Tom Kristensen, thanks in part to the no7 Toyota coming in for a pitstop as the clock hit the 90 minute mark.
In LMP2 the no26 G-Drive Racing Morgan Nissan of Roman Rusinov, 30 seconds ahead of the no38 Jota Sport Zytek of Simon Dolan.
The start was clean, with all cars making around the first turn but the no26 G-Drive Morgan of Olivier Pla had to run wide at La Source to avoid contact with another car as the LMP2 cars fought for position. The no47 KCMG Oreca of Richard Bradley held on to the class lead as the competitors fought for position.
The no20 Porsche of Timo Bernhard had to come in for a very early stop and was pushed back into the garage with a broken rear damper. The Porsche mechanics had the part swapped out in just 4 minutes and Bernhard was soon back on track, just 1 lap down.
The no27 SMP Racing Oreca of Nicolas Minassian got a good start but was later found to have got too good a start and Minassian had to come into the pits to serve a stop go penalty.
The no7 Toyota TS040 seemed to be struggling and Stephane Sarrazin was heard to report over his team radio that the car was suffering from severe oversteer but the Frenchman soldiered on to the first stops.
The nr12 Rebellion Racing R-One Toyota was circulating in amongst the LMP2 runners while the no13 R-One, which started from the pitlane one lap down, was back in the garage as the team continued to develop the brand new LMP1-L cars in race conditions.
After the pitstops the race settled down with Jani continuing to show a clean pair of heels to the rest of the field
RACE FACTS – 90 MINUTES
15:59:49 G-Drive Morgan #26 leads LMP2 by 21 seconds from #38 Jota Zytek on lap 39
15:51:35 Toyota #7 into 3rd place - Toyotas now second and third
15:43:27 Aston Martin's first and second in GTE Pro and Am
15:41:30 Most GTE Am cars have Bronze drivers in at present so Stanaway (Gold) in #95 Aston extending lead
15:38:40 Porsche #14 leads by 6 seconds on lap 32 from Toyota #8 and Audi #1
15:36:35 Aston #95 now leads GTE Am after #90 Ferrari wheel problem
15:33:59 Ferarri #90 loses right front wheel but gets back to pit
15:32:45 #97 Aston leads GTE Pro after first stops due to not taking on tyres
15:30:01 Ferrari #90 takes lead in GTE Am as #61 Ferrari pits
15:27:22 Aston #95 and Porsche #88 incident at La Source is under investigation
15:26:06 Audi #3 only Audi to take on tyres at first stop
15:24:15 Toyota #8 takes 2nd place from #2 Audi on lap 26
15:21:39 Porsche #14 leads #2 Audi by 4 seconds after stops
15:20:26 Audi #3 into pits
15:19:23 New tyres on #14 Porsche but not on Audi's #1 and #2
15:18:00 Porsche #14 into pit
15:16:57 Toyota #8 into pits also #1 and #2 Audi's
15:15:05 Nakajima into #7 Toyota
15:14:20 Toyota #7 into pits
15:12:12 Touch between #88 Porsche and #95 Aston but both continue
15:10:58 Porsche #14 now has 11 second lead over 2 Toyota's on lap 19 - #7 Toyota reports oversteering problem
15:07:37 Pla in #26 G-Drive Morgan takes lead in LMP2
15:06:03 G-Drive Morgan #26 now within a second of #47 KCMG Oreca in LMP2
15:01:55 In GTE Am #61 Ferrari leads by 2 seconds from #90 and #81 Ferraris
15:00:23 Ferrari #51 leads GTE Pro by 6 seconds from #97 and #99 Astons
14:58:47 KCMG Oreca leads LMP2 by 6 seconds from #26 Morgan on lap 13
14:55:56 Stop and Go for #27 SMP Oreca for jumping the start
14:54:59 Porsche #20 dropped to 27th
14:53:31 Porsche #20 has changed rear dampers and back out
14:52:42 Porsche #14 has 5.4 second lead after 10 laps from #8 and #7 Toyota
14:49:55 Porsche #20 has early stop and into pits
14:47:27 Leaders now lapping backmarkers
14:43:38 Fastest lap for #14 Porsche with 2:01.898 on lap 3
14:41:24 Porsche #14 has 4 second lead after 5 laps from #8 Toyota and #20 Porsche
14:37:07 #61 Ferrari leads GTE Am
14:36:27 #51 Ferrari leads GTE Pro
14:35:30 KCMG Oreca #47 leads LMP2
14:34:45 90 second lead for #14 Porsche
14:33:59 Toyota #7 seems to be dropping back
14:32:07 Porsche #14 leads on first lap
14:30:16 Green Flag
14:28:51 All 28 cars on formation lap
14:26:19 Formation lap
14:21:48 Formation lap at 14.26
14:20:34 10 minutes to the Green Flag - pit exit closed
