Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours.
The eagerly-anticipated centenary edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours is the first in which cars built to the new-for-2023 LMDh ruleset have been eligible to compete.
Toyota is seeking a sixth consecutive victory at the world's most famous endurance race, while Ferrari on its first factory effort in the top class in half a century and fellow returnee Porsche are gunning for their 10th and 20th victories respectively.
A field of 62 cars, including the Garage 56 NASCAR entry and 21 GTE Am machines on the category's Le Mans swansong, will take the start at the Circuit de la Sarthe at 4pm local time and race through the night.
Join us here for live updates throughout the race.
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The two Ferraris are getting very close at the front now with Calado all over the back if Nielsen in the #50 that currently sits third but they remain in the same places - for now.
Laurens Vanthoor is on a real charge here as he now gets the Porsche up to sixth after passing the lead Cadillac of Earl Bamber.
Pit stop
Kvyat now comes into the pits in the #63 Prema ORECA and tumbles to the back of the lead lap LMP2 pack.
Wow, this is getting really close between the two Ferraris! They were inches from the barriers there as they also close in on the second Toyota of Conway.
Bamber, meanwhile, has dropped another place as Christensen has now got ahead in the battle of the LMDhs.
Up to third in GTE Am goes Cairoli, demoting Rovera to fourth. 'Rexy' is on the move!
Pit stop
Sebastien Bourdais has now become the first of the leading Hypercars to stop as he dives in at the end of lap nine in the #3 Cadillac.
Things can't get much closer between second, third and fourth as the two Ferraris are hounding Conway!
A message on the timing screens states that Kvyat's #63 Prema car has to fix the rear light at the next pitstop.
Nielsen dives ahead on the inside of Conway at Mulsanne Corner as the trio continue to be very close. So it's Toyota, Ferrari, Toyota, Ferrari at the front.
But just after making that move, Nielsen dives into the pits. Forget a 24-hour race, this had been feeling more like a sprint!
Interesting that Buemi is pulling away from Toyota team-mate Conway. It was the #7 car that had the advantage through the Test Day and then practice and qualifying. #8 struggled initially on both one-lap pace and in the long runs.
Conway is clearly struggling as it's not just Calado in the Ferrari hounding him but a trio of Porsches have closed right in as well.
Calado now dives ahead of Conway at the first Mulsanne chicane - the #7 Toyota is unable to match the pace of the lead car in this phase of the race.
There's no shortage of pace in the GTE Am Porsches. Cairoli has gobbled up Serra and taken second, with Picariello's Iron Lynx car following the Project 1 911 through. Rigon will now be looking in his mirrors at a menacing set of gnashers.
Next up to try to pass Conway's Toyota is Felipe Nasr in the #75 Porsche, which heads its two sister machines and Bamber's Cadillac.
Buemi is now almost five seconds clear of the lead Ferrari, so perhaps there's some differing tactics between the two Toyotas here as Conway attempts to fend off the Porsches for third.
Since making that pitstop under the safety car, Catsburg's Corvette has also been making rapid progress. He's up to seventh in the GTE Am ranks and second among those who have pitted, behind Tincknell, having come in a lap later than the initial quartet of stoppers including handy Porsche pedeller Richard Lietz.
Pit stop
More LMP2 pitstops now, as Reshad de Gerus comes in from third in the Cool ORECA. Josh Pierson takes over from Tom Blomqvist in the #23 United car, van Uitert remains aboard the Panis machine while Salih Yoluc takes over the #923 TF-run Racing Team Turkey entry started by Dries Vanthoor.
Pit stop
One lap later comes the rest of the LMP2 pack headed by Chatin. Following him in are Kubica, Fittipaldi, Aubry, Albuqueque, Correa and Allen, with early stopper Milesi assuming the lead.
Conway had resisted the Porsches for a couple of laps but now is passed by Nasr, who puts the lead #75 Porsche up to third.
Much of the attention has focused on the cars trying to pass Conway's Toyota, but up ahead Calado's Ferrari is now starting to close in on Buemi's lead Toyota, taking a second out of the Swiss driver's advantage.
Lead change in GTE Am, as Cairoli's first stint charge takes him through on Rigon. Picariello continues to follow in the Italian's wheeltracks and also moves ahead of the #54 Ferrari which is dumped back to third ahead of Serra and Rovera. Meanwhile Ryan Hardwick has had a spin at the first chicane.
That early stop means Milesi leads for the time being by 9s in LMP2 from van der Garde, Jani and Martin in the patriotically Belgian-liveried DKR machine. Ricky Taylor is now in for his long penalty stop in the TDS-run Tower car.
Now he's into the GTE Am lead, can Cairoli hunt down Rockenfeller ahead? The Garage 56 NASCAR is rumbling away up the road just out of reach for 'Rexy' at the moment.
Pit stop
Conway now pits from fourth place in the #7 Toyota following his slip down the order in the early laps after the safety-car restart. The #94 Peugeot of Muller also dives in.
Pit stop
Pitting off sequence means Milesi's spell in the lead is short, and he's followed in by fellow early pitters van der Garde, Jani and Martin, plus Sales in the Nielsen car.
Pit stop
Buemi now dives in from the lead the next time around on lap 15, and he's joined by Nasr in the best Porsche, followed by Bamber's Cadillac and the other Peugeot of di Resta.
Prema informs us that a big piece of debris from Aitken's crash was removed from Kvyat's ORECA at the last pitstop, and it will check for more the next time he comes into the pits.
So it's now just leader Calado and two of the factory Porsches yet to stop from the Hypercar class following that flurry of pit activity.
Cairoli has pitted from the lead in GTE Am, so Picariello takes his turn at the head of the order. Porsche's pace is strong, evidenced by Tincknell passing Serra for third on track.
Pit stop
And sure enough that trio of Hypercars does indeed now stop so everyone has visited the pits now.
Through that first pitstop cycle in LMP2, Fittipaldi has moved up a place and now sits third at the expense of de Gerus.
The faster stop from Nielsen earlier in the Ferrari means he has emerged in the lead from Bourdais in the Cadillac, while Buemi is now third after changing tyres during his stop.
Picariello and Rigon came in on the lap after Cairoli, so it's now the drivers who stopped under the safety car who have shuffled to the head of the GTE Am pack. Tincknell is chased by Catsburg, Barker and Eastwood.
So, let's run down the Hypercar order after those early stops:
1. #50 Nielsen Ferrari
2. #3 Bourdais Cadillac
3. #8 Buemi Toyota
4. #2 Bamber Cadillac
5. #51 Calado Ferrari
6. #6 Vanthoor Porsche
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After his second stop, Milesi has emerged fifth in the LMP2 pack. Going off sequence and running in clear air has worked wonders for the Signatech driver.
By: Autosport Staff
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