Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates

As predicted here, Siegel has indeed now shot into the LMP2 lead ahead of de Gerus - not that we know where it happened with the constant TV pictures of Hypercars.

It's almost as close in LMGT3 as Lietz in the Manthey Porsche trails Gelael's BMW by only just over a second. Plenty of things to keep an eye on - even if the TV director isn't - as we enter the final two-and-a-half hours of this race.

Siegel may have been bumped out of the Indy 500 last month but he's now looking to do some demoting of his own as he has closed right in on the #28 IDEC car of de Gerus. The #22 United Autosports car is clearly piloted by a well-balanced line-up.

The Ferrari garage can give a sigh of relief as both the #50 and #51 are only given a reprimand for the technical infringement - so no time penalty or drive-through to serve as possibly feared.

Those stops have shuffled the LMP2 order quite a bit and the big winner is Siegel in the #22 United Autosports car that has jumped from fourth to second, having avoided that scrap between Lomko and Jakobsen earlier. The #10 Vector car has also slipped to sixth, although Richelmi has taken over that one now. 

Lietz has taken over the Manthey Porsche, while Gelael is now in the WRT BMW that stopped a little while ago.

Molina cuts the final chicane to demonstrate he's properly pushing in the lead and trying to respond to Hartley and Pier Guidi behind. Estre in the #6 Porsche is also setting personal bests to keep in touch of the #51 Ferrari - just 25s splits the top four.

But does Ferrari have trouble incoming? Both the #50 and #51 have been put under investigation for an unnamed technical infringement. We'll keep a close eye on that one because it might be a huge factor in the victory fight.

Next lap around, the 268th lap to be precise, Alessandro Pier Guidi follows up Hartley's effort with a 3m29.091s which sees the top three all closing up.

Brendon Hartley is stretching the legs of the #8 Toyota, as he posts the car's quickest lap of the race of 3m29.352s to take 1.5s out of Molina's lead. The gap is down to 6.6s.

I've just audibly gasped as Lynn, on those cold, fresh tyres, almost gets tripped over by an LMP2 battle between the #23 United Autosports and #25 Algarve Pro coming down Tertre Rouge. Thankfully they sort it out on the straight so no harm done, but it was very close.

It is also fairly close in LMGT3 with Schuring in the #91 Manthey Porsche enjoying just a 2.7-second lead Farfus in the remaining #31 WRT BMW. 

A battle is also brewing for second in LMP2. Jakobsen in the #37 Cool entry has already dispatched Cullen in the #10 Vector machine and is now closing right in on Lomko in the #34 Inter Europol car.

Thanks very much you two, we've taken over in the middle of that almighty battle between #51 and #6 for what is currently fourth place. The #2 Cadillac still leads but is due to pit very shortly.

I make it two laps until the #2 Cadillac makes a pitstop and just before it does, that's myself and Richard done with our stints.

Here to take you to the end of the race, welcome back Haydn Cobb and Stephen Lickorish.

Ont the next lap and this time the #51 makes the move down the Mulsanne Straight.

A mistake at Indianapolis from Estre gave the #51 a chance into Arnage and they go side-by-side into the Porsche Curves.

Elbows were firmly out and I took a glide backwards from the laptop. That was dicey as Pier Guidi was forced to yield after contact.

The closest Hypercar battle is between the #6 PPM and the #51 Ferrari over fourth position. Things got awfully close into the first Mulsanne Chicane as Pier Guidi searches for a way through.

The latest gap at the front of the field in GT3 is 1.9s, with Schuring still showing Farfus the way. Keep an eye on the Akkodis Lexus over the last three hours. They're stopping ahead of the rest as a general rule...can they save resources somewhere and get on even strategy terms before the end? That car is currently fourth between the Proton Mustang and the Iron Dames Lambo.

It is quite incredible that there are four manufacturers in with a shout of winning the event with 21 hours almost completed. It's a real filip for the Hypercar class.

Good job from Cullen in the Vector Sport car. He was quicker than Lomko last time around. So, apologies - the battle between Europol and Vector Sport remains close! The only thing is that it's now for second in LMP2, with de Gerus holding a tidy 17s lead for IDEC Sport. 

The #2 keeps Palou-ing on (ok I am REALLY sorry for that one, you only have eight minutes of me left!) which suggests the rain is more aesthetic at this stage than problematic.

The gap is seven seconds to the #50, with both lapping in the 3m32s.

The rain seems to be falling between the Porsche Curves and Tertre Rouge. It's not significant enough to worry teams yet, but the lap times are slowing.

So the Cadillac is nine seconds up on the Ferrari in second, with the lead Toyota 11.3s further back.

Correction on GT3, Farfus had actually stopped before Schuring. battle has resumed between these two! 1.2 seconds separates them. Meanwhile Proton outdid the Iron Dames at the latest pitstops and Dennis Olsen has thus pulled out a substantial gap over Rahel Frey in their fight for the last podium spot as it stands.

Indeed, the #2 goes back into the lead but the #50 has cycled into second ahead of the #8.