Nightfall at Le Mans: Ferrari leads as Porsche gives chase
This weekend’s 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is beginning to develop into a classic Ferrari vs. Porsche duel, with the current world championship leaders and the reigning title-holders locking out the top four positions as midnight strikes at La Sarthe.
The three Ferrari 499P Hypercars hit the front and lead the chasing pack as the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans reaches the one-third distance mark
A second Full Course Yellow period was called in the race’s seventh hour when the #95 United Autosports McLaren LMGT3 car driven by Darren Leung stopped with a suspected drivetrain problem on the Mulsanne Straight
But that didn’t change a great deal for the Prancing Horse trio, as the #51 Ferrari AF Corse and #83 AF Corse entry piloted respectively by Miguel Molina and Yifei Ye took turns in the lead
With the #83 thriving in Ye’s hands and gaining a small advantage in some of the pit-stops, it is the yellow 499P that leads as Saturday night ticks over into Sunday morning, with Phil Hanson now taking over from the Chinese ace
The #50 and #51 factory Ferrari 499Ps ran in close proximity behind Hanson, with the three cars covered by just nine seconds at 23:00 CET
But the air of calm was disturbed by a drive-through penalty imposed on the #50 Ferrari 499P Hypercar due to a yellow flag offence. Nicklas Nielsen served the penalty and consequently dropped to fourth
That elevated the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 to third position as Kévin Estre got his second stint behind the wheel. Estre sat 25 seconds adrift of the leading pair of Ferraris as midnight struck and the traditional fireworks illuminated the Circuit de la Sarthe
Meanwhile, at the front, Hanson saw his lead gap eroded slightly, with James Calado punching in a succession of rapid laps to close to within 1.2 seconds at the eight-hour mark
Then came a call from the factory Ferrari team to switch the positions, as the packed-out grandstands held their collective breath to see if the orders would be obeyed. They were, and Calado seized the initiative just as Saturday turned into Sunday
In fifth place at midnight was the #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR010 Hybrid, as Ryō Hirakawa delivered a solid triple stint before handing over to Sébastien Buemi in the race’s eighth hour. Buemi went on a charge as midnight approached as he set about chasing down Nielsen’s fourth-placed Ferrari
Adding to the list of those hit with a penalty for yellow flag offences was the #20 BMW M Team WRT challenger, which duly slipped behind the #4 and #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport cars running sixth and seventh
Completing the current top ten are the #15 BMW M Team WRT entry, the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA Hypercar and the #311 Cadillac Whelen prototype, which recovered with Jack Aitken back inside the cockpit after similarly serving a penalty for a yellow flag infraction
Kevin Magnussen was earlier obliged to get the #15 BMW M Team WRT Hypercar checked over in the pits after suffering an apparent systems shutdown approaching Mulsanne Corner just after 23:00
The Dane rejoined the fray, but lost momentum and dropped to the periphery of the top ten. His pain was doubled when he was adjudged to have exceeded the 60km/h pit-lane speed limit and he was served with a penalty
On-track clashes were scarce in the 4-8 hour period and limited to a coming-together between the Paul-Loup Chatin-piloted #35 Alpine A424 and the #94 Team Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 of Loïc Duval at the entry to the first Mulsanne Chicane, for which the former was administered a drive-through penalty
LMGT3
Team WRT is beginning to exert its authority on the LMGT3 battle as day to turns to night at La Sarthe, with Valentino Rossi and Kelvin van der Linde consolidating the squad’s lead at a very healthy 55 seconds
Attempting to chase down the BMW is Ryan Hardwick in the #92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3, in a bid to keep the Le Mans LMGT3 winners’ trophy with the German team after last year’s success for the #91 Porsche crew of Morris Schuring, Yasser Shahin and Richard Lietz
The #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296GT makes it three LMGT3 manufacturers inside the top three, as Simon Mann enjoys his first running in the car after François Heriau and Alessio Rovera completed the opening six hours of the race
The Akkodis ASP Team Lexus LMGT3s run a strong fourth and fifth, as the #78 Japanese sportscar heads the sister #87 entry with Arnold Robin and Clemens Schmid respectively behind the wheel
The pole-winning #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin sits sixth in-class, as Mattia Drudi takes his second stint in the cockpit into the night
The second and third retirements at Le Mans came in the shape of a technical issue for the #60 Iron Lynx Mercedes and the Full Course Yellow-triggering stoppage in the seventh hour for the #95 United Autosports McLaren
LMP2
The VDS Panis Racing Oreca-Gibson holds the lead from the pursuing #43 Inter Europol Competition car as it continues with an off-set strategy; Esteban Masson and Jakub Smiechowski have respectively taken their second stints behind the wheel
Inter Europol Competition has had to fight back from an earlier mistake by Nick Yelloly in locating his pit to take the battle to the VDS Panis squad, although the gap is a significant 58 seconds as Sunday arrives
Iron Lynx Proton continued its strong run as Jonas Ried took over the cockpit of the #9 entry and engaged in a duel with the chasing #22 United Autosports car, with Renger van der Zande attempting to hunt the German down
Fifth and sixth in LMP2 are the IDEC Sport car driven by Job van Uitert and the AO by TF Sport ‘Spike the Purple Dragon’ fan-favourite, which also heads the Pro/Am trophy chase as ‘Bronze’ categorised driver PJ Hyett takes the car into the small hours
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