Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours
Live Text
A fuel-only pitstop for the #20 BMW. Frijns rejoines the track in third place behind the #8 Toyota and the #38 Cadillac.
The race-leading BMW will be heading to the pits shortly. The second-placed Toyota has 11% more useable energy than the BMW. The two cars are no longer on completely different strategies.
It's going to be interesting as Hirakawa comes up on the back of the #20 BMW running at the head of the leaderboard. The Japanese car is the quicker of the two, but can it actually pass its German rival on track? We know the Toyota struggles when it's running in the pack - hence the decision to pit its two cars early during the opening hour. The car is down on acceleration and a tad in terms of straightline speed in comparison to the BMW.
The #15 BMW has dropped to 18th and last in Hypercar following its incident with the DKR LMP2. The car is back out on track after WRT mechanics replaced the rear end and the engine cover
LMGT3 order after six hours
- 27 Aston
- 87 Lexus
- 78 Lexus
- 91 Porsche
- 21 Ferrari
LMP2 order after six hours
- 30 Duqueine
- 26 Forestier by Panis
- 37 CLX
- 343 Inter Europol
- 43 Inter Europol
Hypercar order after six hours
- 38 Cadillac
- 20 BMW
- 8 Toyota
- 12 Cadillac
- 50 Ferrari
The race-leading #15 BMW has 15% more energy remaining compared to 28% for the second-placed #8 Toyota.
One quarter distance: Bourdais leads in the #38 Cadillac, half a minute clear of Robin Frijns in the #20 BMW. The off-sequence #8 Toyota of Ryo Hirakawa is another 4s back.
And that marks the end of Mark Paulson's stint at the wheel. Rachit Thukral will be your guide for the next portion of the race.
Incident for #15 BMW
Dries Vanthoor has a moment in the sixth-placed #15 BMW. He clips the #3 DKR Engineering LMP2 car in the Porsche curves and damages the BMW's rear bodywork. Having passed the pits, the BMW's right-rear tyre punctures and he faces a long tour back to get a replacement. The BMW is plumetting down the leaderboard.
Bourdais is doing a great job of stretching the stint length in what is now the leading Cadillac, after Hirakawa stops. He's regularly doing 13 laps compared to Hirakawa's 12. And, he's still able to be one of the fastest cars on track. They might not be battling each other on track but this could be turning into a fascinating tactical duel.
As we’re now approaching one-quarter distance, in around a quarter of an hour, the Akkodis ASP Team’s pair of Lexus RC Fs are one-two in GT3. Petru Umbrarescu’s #87 holds a 14s lead over Hadrien David in the #78.
Nicky Catsburg’s #33 TF Sport Corvette briefly gets ahead Ian James in the #27 Aston Martin for third before coming into the pits.
Race leader Ryo Hirakawa is approaching the end of this stint in the #8 Toyota. His lead currently stands at more than 40s over Bourdais in the #38 Cadillac.
Robin Frijns is a full minute off the lead, third in the #20 BMW. Norman Nato (#12 Cadillac), Victor Martins (#36 Alpine) and Miguel Molina (#50 Ferrari) complete the current top six.
Sebastien Bourdais in the #38 Cadillac could be in trouble here. A long brake pedal gives him a scary moment; he cuts across the grass but doesn't follow the correct procedure for rejoining. Penalty incoming or will he get away with it?
A ding-dong battle between Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota and Jordan Taylor in the #101 Cadillac is providing some entertainment as the light begins to fade. Kobayashi pulls off a stellar move to grab eighth position.
It's twilight at Le Mans. How will the lower temperatures to come affect each car's pace?
#8 Toyota Racing Toyota TR010 Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
The car currently fourth in LMP2, the #28 IDEC Sport entry that qualfied in second, has just been handed a 5s penalty for corner-cutting after a moment on Valerio Rinicella's outlap.
Doriane Pin's #30 Duqueine car still leads the class overall, some 17s clear of Oliver Gray in the #29 Forestier Racing by Panis car. Third is the #37 CLX Motorsport entry with Theodor Jensen at the wheel.
Da Costa got caught in traffic in the Porsche curves and was jumped by both Kobayashi and Yifei Ye in last year's winning car, the #83 Ferrari. So Kobayashi now runs 10th, ahead of Yifei Ye and Da Costa.
It's close in the bottom half of the top 10. Jordan Taylor, seventh in the #101 Cadillac, is under pressure from a gaggle of cars, but Antonio Felix Da Costa peels into the pits. Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota has a lap to jump Da Costa before he too stops, but appears to be getting held up by the Cadillac.
It hasn't been a happy race for the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes. After an early spin and picking up some front-end damage that put it a few laps down, Martin Berry has just hit further strife. It looks like the suspension collapsed and Berry is stranded. Could be game over for the car he shares with Maxime Martin and Rui Andrade.
Hirakawa completes his first stint behind the wheel of the leading Toyota, and the offset strategies puts Bourdais back in front. The Le Mans local had nibbled a couple of seconds out of Hirakawa's lead before the Toyota came in.
Hirakawa extends the Toyota's lead to 38s over Sebastien Bourdais, who has taken over the #38 Cadillac. Frijns is a further 12s back and nearly half a minute ahead of Nato in the second Caddy.
Louis Deletraz and Sheldon van der Linde have brought the #12 Cadillac and #20 BMW in, handing over to Norman Nato and Robin Frijns respectively. The stops put the #8 Toyota back in front, driven by Ryo Hirakawa.
We haven't mentioned the #50 Ferrari much. Winner two years ago, Miguel Molina is seventh overall and putting the hammer down, setting the car's best lap so far. His 3m27.323s marker is still eight tenths off the #8 Toyota's benchmark, but he's trying to put the pressure on Victor Martins in the #36 Alpine.
#8 Toyota Racing Toyota TR010 Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
The #8 Toyota's early pitstop, giving it clear air, was crucial to it gaining the upper hand. Will it prove to be a tactical masterstroke?
The #8 Toyota took new tyres at its last stop, as you would expect with a new driver taking the controls. Hirakawa, like Buemi and Hartley before him, is on the medium. The sun's still out, so it's probably a little early to start thinking about the soft. It's difficult to work out whether the bigger overlap in the working ranges of the new Michelins in comparison with the old will result in an earlier switch or a later switch.
Aitken's at it again. He throws the #38 Cadillac past van der Linde's #20 BMW into the Ford chicane.
With the #8 Toyota, still on its alternate strategy, having pitted for Ryo Hirakawa to take over, that was another lead change. In reality, the Toyota still holds sway, but can Aitken make the most of clear air to chip away at its advantage?
And in the GT class, the #91 Porsche, with Ayhancan Guven in the driver's seat, pits from the lead, which puts the #87 Lexus of Jose Maria Lopez back in front, at least for the time being.
In LMP2, the #30 Duqueine car currently leads with Doriane Pin at the wheel after a profitable stint by Richard Verschoor. The Mercedes F1 junior is 28s clear of Oliver Gray in the #29 Forestier Racing by Panis car, which has made one more visit to the pits. Adrien Closmenil in the #37 CLX Motorsport car is third.
Hartley is continuing to extend the #8 Toyota's lead. With more than four hours down, it stands at over half a minute over van der Linde in the #20 BMW who still has Aitken's #38 Cadillac in his mirrors.
As expected, Hartley resumes the lead in the #8 Toyota as the stops play out, but van der Linde's BMW emerges back in second, ahead of Aitken's Cadillac.
Better news for Cadillac - the investigation into the sister #12 and #101 cars is cancelled, so they can breathe a sigh of relief. Deletraz, in the #12, lies fourth, 23s down on Aitken. Taylor is eighth.
Remember those emergency pitstops under the FCY? Two Cadillacs, #12 currently with Louis Deletraz at the wheel, and the #101 of Ricky Taylor, are currently under investigation. The question appears to be, did they inform race control that they needed to?
Talking of penalties, or potential penalties, Robert Kubica has just copped one for an unsafe release in the #83 Ferrari - the car will have 5s added to its next stop.
Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari was adjudged at fault for that clash with the Proton Competition LMP2 car. He's in for his drivethrough penalty and drops to ninth overall, behind the #83 Ferrari of Kubica. He reckons "it's not fair" but is told to stop complaining on the team radio.
Lead change
Aitken has made his move, diving out of the BMW's slipstream on the Mulsanne and into the lead at the second chicane. He immediately pulls away, to the tune of 1.7s.
But remember - the #8 Toyota, currently fourth, should cycle back in front when the cars in front take their stops.
Out front, Hartley brings the #8 Toyota into the pits. Van der Linde reinherits the lead but he has a battle on his hands. Aitken in the #38 Cadillac has chased him down and is now just a second back.
Another incident for Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari. He has a brush with the #9 Proton Competition LMP2 car of Jonas Reid. It looks as though Pier Guidi slides into the Oreca, but he claims Reid is "out of control". We'll leave it to race control to decide...
Reid's car came off worst, with some damage to the side, which he makes a quick pit visit to fix.
Van der Linde's stops mean Hartley is back in front in the #8 Toyota, with a 25-second advantage over the BMW. Aitken's #38 Cadillac is third, another 6s down and 10s ahead of the sister #12 car of Deletraz.
Yes, that was a very short FCY, and both van der Linde in the #20 BMW and Deletraz in the #12 Cadillac made emergency fuel stops before returning the next lap.
Meantime, in LMP2, the #3 DKR Engineering car has lost a lot of time in the pits fixing a broken upright. Sebastian Alvarez suffered the failure early in the lap and had to tour around almost the full 8 miles. The car drops to the tail of the LMP2 field, some six laps adrift.
By: Autosport staff
