Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates

There are four service vehicles on the scene of the crash to repair the barrier, so this looks like it will be a lengthy safety car period.

The #24 Nielsen becomes the fifth retirement from the race, as it is hugs all around in the team garage knowing that their race is over. The safety cars are still circulating as the barrier repairs continue.

The incident is cleared up and the three safety car trains are being merged into one long safety car snake. So for now we can ignore the gaps and focus on the order: 1. #6 Porsche, 2. #8 Toyota, 3. #83 AF Corse Ferrari, 4. #4 Porsche, 5. #20 BMW WRT.

Jensen in the #93 Peugeot has spun while trying to catch up in the safety car merging process. He's got going again but that is really not ideal - and will probably put him in trouble with race direction.

OK, all runners are now in one long safety car train. So next is pass around - which means those out of order are allowed to pass the safety car until it reaches a class leader.

In summary, we've got a mass safety car restart with the #6 Porsche in the lead from the #8 Toyota, which is the big winner in this period. But can it make it count?

This will wake a few people up trackside, as the relative silence is about to be shattered for the restart with the safety car in this lap. The pack heads through the final section, here we go again!

With the action picking back up, let's hand over to a fresh(ish) pair of eyes in James Newbold. I'm off to rattle some more words out and then a power nap.

Thanks very much Haydn. We have the two factory Ferraris side-by-side into Mulsanne Corner, with Pier Guidi muscling past Molina into sixth.

It appears the engine is done on the WTR Caddy. A huge amount of work has gone into this programme for the IMSA squad, so it is a bitter shame that it has become the first retirement from the Hypercar field as we hit the halfway point in the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Time for an LMP2 update. We have six cars on the lead lap presently, split by just 14s. Oliver Gray in the #48 VDS Panis ORECA leads Reshad de Gerus in the #9 Iron Lynx - Proton entry. Jakub Smiechowski is third in the #43 Inter Europol Competition car, then Mathys Jaubert in the #18 IDEC Sport ORECA, the second IDEC #28 entry of Sebastian Alvarez and Louis Deletraz in sixth with the #199 AO by TF machine.

The hopes of a WRT class win in LMGT3 have dipped badly in recent hours. The #46 BMW is now a confirmed retirement, due to electronic issues which killed the power steering and could not be fixed in the pits, while the #31 has been in the box for a number of laps now after striking a rabbit.

An excellent three-way battle for second is brewing in LMGT3, with Finn Gehrsitz in the #78 Lexus moving ahead of Simon Mann's #21 Ferrari. Right behind the pair of them is Rui Andrade in the #81 Corvette, although there is an investigation hanging over Mann for leaving the pits under the same safety car.

That class continues to be led by Riccardo Pera in the #92 Manthey Porsche, which has a 42s buffers. That car, you may recall, ran well in the early running with bronze Ryan Hardwick completing a quad stint spanning three hours - lopping off half his required six hours of driving time at the first available opportunity.

Marciello is coming under immense pressure for his fourth place from the Ferraris of Pier Guidi and Molina. The #51 car takes a look into the Porsche Curves before thinking better of it. The #15 BMW is currently under investigation for not following the race director's instructions under the earlier safety car. Could he be told to visit the naughty step?

Good news: Cem Bolukbasi has been released from the medical centre after a check-up following his heavy crash in the #24 Nielsen that caused the earlier safety car.

The lead in LMGT3 has indeed changed hands, with the #87 Lexus at the front after not pitting on that lap. But the six cars behind it all pitted on that lap, with the #92 Porsche coming out with Hardwick at the wheel and 7s back.

Marciello has been cleared of the earlier safety car trouble, so on we go, as he comes out in seventh place now in the #15 BMW.

The leading #6 Porsche, #83 Ferrari and #50 Ferrari all pit together to shake up the order once again...

Following that last round of stops, there's nothing in it in the LMP2 lead fight with Deletraz right behind Gray. Could there be a change of position soon?

Campbell is now aboard the #6 Porsche and rejoins fifth on what we believe are fresh tyres. Hirakawa shuffles into the lead in the #8 Toyota from Ye's #83 Ferrari, 2.4s behind.

Autosport has reached the point in the race week when we have been left with little alternative but to open the packet of Dairy Milk Mega Buttons. Our equivalent of taking on fuel, which the Iron Dames Porsche now does for real. 

At the sharp end, Ye was six tenths quicker than Hirakawa last time around. It's shaping up to be a proper battle for the lead.

Gehrsitz has been jumped in the last round of stops by Mann, who gets himself back into second in LMGT3. Ryan Hardwick is back aboard the leading #92 Manthey Porsche and has 22s in hand. Charlie Eastwood may be the man to watch in fourth as the Pro in the TF Corvette, which sits right on the tail of the Lexus.

Ye is still sizing up Hirakawa, but has a big old wobble over the kerbs at the Ford Chicane which will have done his teeth no good. The Toyota ahead has less energy than the pursuing yellow Ferrari, which suggests the Chinese driver will inherit the lead at least for a time when they next pit.

The top 12 are still on the lead lap in the Hypercar class, with the #36 Alpine of Mick Schumacher the first driver one lap down. 

One of those cars which fell off the lead lap is the #311 Action Express Cadillac, which ran a handy fourth earlier with Felipe Drugovich. It is now five laps back in 19th after the team was obligated to replace the steering torque sensor and ECU to try to resolve an issue reported by Frederik Vesti.

Young gun Oliver Gray has done well to hold off Deletraz in the LMP2 lead. But in the Hypercar class Hirakawa and Ye are properly scrapping over the lead, with the #83 Ferrari finally triumphing after going side-by-side down to Mulsanne Corner. New leader at 4:52 in the morning.

Deletraz now pits to bring that LMP2 battle to a pause. Replays show Ye actually got the move done into the second Mulsanne Chicane on the outside line and struggled to get it stopped, allowing Hirakawa to get a better exit - although Ye kept his elbows wide and stayed ahead despite the Toyota getting in the slipstream.

We flagged a little while back that Eastwood was looming large in the mirrors of Finn Gehrsitz. Sure enough, the Ulsterman has moved ahead into third in the LMGT3 class, with Simon Mann's Ferrari next in his sights.

It is nose to tail in the battle for fifth between Ian James in the HoR Aston and Razvan Umbrarescu's Lexus. Both are on very aged Goodyears, and James with 13% energy remaining will surely be in soon.

Jenson Button is now aboard the #38 Jota Caddy which has the fastest lap of the race so far. It is his fourth appearance at Le Mans and all have been in different cars, having sampled the BR Engineering BR1 back in the LMP1 days, the Porsche 963 last year and, of course, a Hendrick-run Chevrolet Camaro NASCAR in 2023. That was quite the sight.