Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours
Live Text
Kobayashi sets the fastest lap of the race: 3m25.155s!
But Kobayashi is lapping one second faster than both of them, so should catch up fairly soon at this pace.
Meanwhile, the gap between Frijns and Nato remains a consistent one second.
Andlauer's advantage over de Gerus is up to two seconds.
Let's not forget Kobayashi is a lightning-quick driver, the holder of the all-time track record here at Le Mans – a 3m14.791s in 2017, in the LMP1 era.
Kamui Kobayashi sets a personal best in the #7 Toyota, a 3m25.524s. He's just six seconds off the lead now.
Julien Andlauer sets a personal best in the first sector with the LMP2-leading #30 Duqueine to give himself a bit of breathing space versus Reshad de Gerus and Nick Yelloly.
Nato keeps pressuring Frijns for the lead, but can't quite launch an attack yet.
Make that two seconds now.
In LMP2, the top three cars (#30 Duqueine, #343 Inter Europol, #43 Inter Europol) are running within three seconds.
Nato (Cadillac #12) has been hindered by a GT3 car and lost half a second to Frijns (BMW #12) at the front of the pack.
Green flag!
The race is set to resume imminently, after more than one hour under the safety car.
Hour 19 LMGT3 leaderboard
#33 Corvette
#27 Aston Martin
#32 BMW
#23 Aston Martin
#78 Lexus
Hour 19 LMP2 leaderboard
#30 Duqueine
#343 Inter Europol
#43 Inter Europol
#26 Vector Sport
#29 Forestier Racing by Panis
Hour 19 Hypercar Leaderboard
#20 BMW
#12 Cadillac
#7 Toyota
#8 Toyota
#83 Ferrari
It has been a tough race so far for the RD Limited outfit, which is 17th in class, some six laps down on the lead LMP2 car.
But as Dumas said, “We’re very much aware that we’re going to get our asses kicked.” This is all about learning for the future.
The #36 Alpine has had a five-minute pitstop, which sounds suboptimal, even in safety-car conditions – especially as it is now stuck with the red light at the end of the pitlane.
The merging of the three safety cars will begin once the incident that caused the SC is fully sorted (looks like the barrier repairs are done and dusted to me). After the merging, the pass around begins and only then can the race go green. The first SC early in the race lasted about 40 minutes. It's likely to be the better part of 20 mins from the beginning of the merge to the waving of the green flag.
We have a driver change at Alpine, as veteran Frederic Makowiecki hands over the #36 car to Victor Martins, who's over 20 years younger.
The cars cruising past the pit building briefly break the silence, which makes me think of the Aston Martin Valkyrie, whose higher-pitched sound I enjoy most of all cars.
To be fair, that's probably out of nostalgia, as it reminds me of F1 cars from 20 years ago. Nothing can match your childhood/teenage memories.
#009 Aston Martin Thor Team Aston Martin Valkyrie: Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen, Roman De Angelis
Photo by: Marc Fleury
The merging process has not started yet, so the safety car is going to be here awhile. It's already been 35 minutes. Time flies when you're having fun!
The car is being pushed away by the stewards. "It's game over then," Molina sighs on the radio.
The AF Corse engineers are trying to guide Miguel Molina so that he can fix the problem, but they're struggling.
The #50 Ferrari has stopped at the exit of Tertre Rouge with a technical issue, in what already was a nightmare race for the Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen entry.
It may be just 10:20am, but ambient temperature has already surpassed 20C here in Sarthe.
The hills are alive with the sound of cruising cars and tired fans. It has really seemed to me like the circuit is even more crowded than in previous years. Some of the most courageous spectators stayed up most of the night and are now pulling their duvets over their eyes, seeking shelter from this bright June sunshine.
At least three cars are on the lead lap in LMGT3: the #33 Corvette, the #27 Aston Martin and the #78 Lexus.
In LMP2, the #30 Duqueine is seeing its meagre eight-second avantage over the #343 Inter Europol now erased, as at least the #43 Inter Europol, the #26 Vector and the #29 Forestier by Panis catch up too.
What now?
Well, all cars on the lead lap will be reunited behind the safety car. That's no fewer than seven Hypercars: the #20 BMW (Robin Frijns), the #12 Cadillac (Norman Nato), the #7 Toyota (Kamui Kobayashi), the #8 Toyota (Ryo Hirakawa), the #83 Ferrari (Ye Yifei), the #51 Ferrari (James Calado) and the #35 Alpine (Ferdinand Habsburg).
The cause of the accident – which did look strange, it must be said – is a suspected steering issue, according to the Turkish driver.
The #91 Porsche entered by Manthey DK Engineering has crashed at the hands of Ayhancan Guven at the exit of the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight.
And we have a safety car!
Thanks Haydn! I'm celebrating a personal milestone this weekend, as this is my 10th Le Mans on site as a journalist. This may sound cliché, but it's always a privilege.
With that, it is time to hand over once again as Haydn Cobb gives the controls to Ben Vinel - and what a moment to join the action...
Hour 18 LMGT3 leaderboard
- #33 Corvette
- #27 Aston Martin
- #78 Lexus
- #91 Porsche
- #23 Aston Martin
That stop for the #8 Toyota while the front left corner received some attention cost it a minute. Unless there's a safety car between now and the end of the race it probably spells the end of its victory chances.
By: Autosport staff
