Hypercar
- The mid-portion of the race began with a lengthy safety car period, prompted by Raffaele Marciello crashing heavily after coming across the Proton Competition Porsche driven by Nico Pino
- While Marciello emerged unhurt, a long delay was triggered due to barrier repairs conducted under the first Virtual Safety Car and subsequently second full safety car intervention of the race; the incident was placed under investigation
- This shook up the field significantly as some cars pitted just prior to the VSC being shown, while others took advantage of it. The pole-sitting #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA driven by Will Stevens and then Norman Nato lost the lead as it was usurped by several cars
- Making the most of their fortune was the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 Hypercar, with Nicolás Varrone taking over from Pino, from whom he inherited the lead
- The Argentine youngster held off a charging Jean-Éric Vergne in the #93 Team Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 Hypercar for several laps, before the Frenchman slipped by with a bold manoeuvre at Turn Ten just as the fourth hour arrived
- Behind this pair was a warring swathe of Hypercars led by Nyck de Vries in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar. The Dutchman also overtook Varrone, going on to engage in a thrilling battle with the #94 Peugeot of Malthe Jakobsen and the #12 Cadillac driven by Norman Nato
- But the race took another sensational twist after three-and-a-half hours, when Aston Martin’s Tom Gamble connected his #007 Valkyrie Hypercar with the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin, bringing out a third safety car
- This sent cars scrambling for the pits, but again some became compromised and lost positions. The #93 Peugeot, now driven by Mikkel Jensen, still led the race as it went green again just before the fifth hour
- The order after four hours reads: 1st #93 Peugeot; 2nd #35 Alpine; 3rd #50 Ferrari; 4th #009 Aston Martin; 5th #94 Peugeot; 6th #51 Ferrari; 7th #6 Porsche; 8th #20 BMW; 9th #5 Porsche; 10th #7 Toyota
- Among many fights throughout the field that stood out was Kévin Estre making astounding progress in the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, as the Frenchman picked off several opponents including the championship-leading #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, who he overtook with a thrilling move into Turn One
- Pier Guidi had several close calls with rivals, including contact with Varonne in the #99 Proton Porsche at the chicane; the incident was placed under review
LMGT3
- The second safety car shake-up as the third hour began witnessed a change in LMGT3, with the #59 United Autosports McLaren losing its advantage as Sébastien Baud took over from James Cottingham
- Baud came under sustained pressure from the Iron Dames Porsche, as Rahel Frey hunted down the McLaren and made a bold move among traffic into Turn One to seize the initiative
- Frey then opens a small gap before losing the lead when a pursuing #92 Manthey 1stPhorm Porsche with Riccardo Pera at the wheel slips through and takes over at the front
- Moving up in to third position is the #33 TF Sport Corvette LMGT3 with Jonny Edgar in the cockpit after an initial double stint via Ben Keating
- The #95 United Autosports McLaren fought back from its earlier drive-through penalty as Sean Gelael in contention to fight for back-to-back wins with the Indonesian running fourth
- The rest of the top six saw the #21 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari who also fight back from adversity in the opening stints with Alessio Rovera now in the cockpit and eyeing a challenge for getting in to the top three while running fifth
- In sixth position is the #88 Proton Ford Mustang as Dennis Olsen takes over from Stefano Gattuso who was one of the standouts of the opening exchanges
- The #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin is still in contention despite suffering damage from being hit by the #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar
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