Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours
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It hasn't been a stint to remember for Albuquerque in the #101 Caddy who takes to the gravel while coming into the pits as he misjudges his braking to add to his two drive-through penalties.
Two drive through penalties fired out in quick succession, both for slow zone infringements:
One for the #25 Algarve Pro LMP2 and one for the #2 TF Sport Corvette
Hartley is coming into pit for fuel only and over this stint the gap has been trimmed from 48s to 40s on leader Stevens.
Further back, it is worth keeping an eye on the #51 Ferrari which is currently fifth and still making inroads to the cars in front, with the #35 Alpine directly up behind it.
The top 10 in Hypercar are still on the lead lap and given the only safety car in this race so far was over eight hours ago, that's an encouraging sign for the rulemakers and for us watching on.
The #77 Ford has been given a 45s stop and go penalty for pitlane speeding, but given the car is down in 18th in class currently, it isn't likely to make a huge impact on the rest of this race.
Hour 18 LMGT3 leaderboard
- #33 Corvette
- #78 Lexus
- #27 Aston Martin
- #75 Ferrari
- #23 Aston Martin
Hour 18 LMP2 leaderboard
- #30 Duqueine
- #343 Inter Europol
- #43 Inter Europol
- #26 Vector Sport
- #9 Proton Competition
It is a terminal issue for the #38 Cadillac as the garage shutters come down on that side of the garage. Their race is run.
#38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R: Sebastien Bourdais, Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken
Photo by: Lou Benoist / AFP via Getty Images
Hour 16 Hypercar leaderboard
- #12 Cadillac
- #8 Toyota
- #20 BMW
- #7 Toyota
- #51 Ferrari
Meanwhile Bamber in the #38 Cadillac locked up at Mulsanne corner, forcing him to take to the roundabout for a 360 to get facing the right way again. It could be another serious problem for that car as the Kiwi duly pits immediately and is taken into the garage.
Double yellows for a crash for Estre in the #14 TDS Racing LMP2 runner. Estre clipped the inside kerb and that unsettled the car, giving him no time to stop before hitting the barrier at Indianapolis.
Hartley isn't really gaining time on Stevens in the lead, meanwhile the #20 BMW driven by van der Linde is starting to chip into the gap to the second-placed driver.
In comes the #7 Toyota from fourth and the #51 Ferrari from fifth. The last time they came in together they came oh-so-close to contact which is still under investigation for an unsafe release for the Toyota.
After the latest pitstop cycle, the #12 Cadillac leads by 49s from the #8 Toyota with the #20 BMW in third just 3s back.
And in comes the race-leading #12 Cadillac for its scheduled pitstop. Stevens remains in the cockpit for a quick fuel and check over, meaning he retains the lead.
The #8 Toyota heads back out on the track in third place, not losing a place as the#35 Alpine pits moments later directly behind. Now the #20 BMW comes in from second place, with van der Linde serviced and back out again.
Buemi has been called "an animal" by his Toyota race engineer after that new fastest lap, as he's informed he's due to pit and come in for a break, with Hartley ready and waiting to take over in the #8 Toyota.
Buemi has just lit up the timing screen with a splash of purple, as he sets a new fastest lap of the race with a 3m25.968s. The #8 Toyota is currently third and hunting down the #20 BMW with the gap down to 16s. The #12 Caddy still leads, with Stevens at the wheel, by 24s.
The #101 Cadillac has a third drive-through penalty, this time for the slow zone infringement, so that's another blow to its hopes for a positive result.
It continues to look very good for the #33 Corvette with Catsburg at the wheel who has a 1m30s lead over the #78 Lexus which now has Hawksworth at the controls at the head of the LMGT3 field. At the moment the top seven remain on the lead lap so it won't take much intervention to massively shake up the order and slash the Corvette's advantage, but it is smooth sailing so far.
Well, that was clooooooose 🤏#LeMans24 #WEC pic.twitter.com/WS8rHYQMSy
— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) June 14, 2026
De Vries has fired up the tyres on his Toyota and is now hunting down Giovinazzi. Using a top speed advantage the Dutch driver blasts by the Ferrari driver in the first part of the Mulsanne straight. The #7 Toyota is back up to sixth place.
A penalty we can confirm is a drive-through for the #87 Lexus after an earlier collision with the #57 Ferrari which occurred around 45 minutes ago.
Uh oh, the #101 Cadillac is under investigation again, this time for a slow zone infringement, having already served two drive-through penalties for separate offences.
The #83 Ferrari and #7 Toyota pit together, De Vries jumps into the Toyota after a full service, so on the out-lap it makes it a fairly easy pass for Giovinazzi with the Dutch driver on cold tyres. Giovinazzi is up to sixth.
A bit of admin to catch up on: The #101 Cadillac has a driver-through to serve for a full course yellow infringement. Albuquerque is currently at the wheel of that car running in seventh place.
Good morning everyone! How are we doing? Thank you Mark for that superb stint, rest easy, and on we go for the final nine hours of the race.
As the #12 Cadillac continues to lead with nine hours remaining, it's time for a driver change here. Mark Paulson climbs out of the seat to hand over to Haydn Cobb for the next few hours.
Hour 15 GT leaderboard
- #33 TF Sport Corvette
- #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin
- #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin
- #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus
- #21 AF Corse Ferrari
HOUR 15 LMP2 Leaderboard
- #30 Duqueine
- #343 Inter Europol
- #43 Inter Europol
- #26 Vector Sport
- #29 Forestier Racing by Panis
Hour 15 Hypercar leaderboard
- #12 Cadillac
- #20 BMW
- #8 Toyota
- #7 Toyota
- #51 Ferrari
Jonny Edgar brings the #33 TF Sport Corvette in from the lead of GT3 and hands over to Nicky Catsburg. The car retains the lead despite a slow stop after wheelnut trouble.
Dane Cameron goes off from 12th in LMP2 in the #99 AO by TF Oreca. He locks the rears, runs through the gravel and noses into the tyre barrier at low speed. A slow zone is the result as Cameron gets towed away.
A raft of penalties for slow zone infringements: the third and fourth placed GT3 runners are both hit - Ian James in the #27 Aston Martin and Dustin Blattner in the #74 Ferrari both have drivethroughs, along with the #83 Ferrari Hypercar and the #37 CLX Motorsport LMP2 entry.
The sun rises at Le Mans over the second-placed #20 BMW.
#20 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Robin Frijns, Rene Rast, Sheldon Van Der Linde
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
Contact between the #87 Lexus of Clemens Schmid and the #57 Ferrari driven by Takeshi Kimura sends the Lexus through the gravel. Both drivers were on out-laps after taking over their respective mounts.
In LMP2, Andlauer continues to lead the way aboard the #30 Duqueine car. Fifth-placed Harry King is going well in the #9 Proton Competition car - which, if you recall, picked up some bodywork damage in a brush with the #51 Ferrari early on. He's just set the car's best lap of the race and lies fifth, about two-and-a-half minutes off the lead.
A slightly scary moment for Mike Conway in the #7 Toyota as he comes into the pits and an LMP2 car gets released into his path. Conway pulls on the anchors and avoids any potential contact.
Esteban Masson in the fourth-placed #29 Forestier Racing by Panis LMP2 car takes a trip across the gravel at the Porsche Curves after catching a gaggle of GT machinery. He looks to have survived the moment without losing too much time.
By: Autosport staff
