Le Mans 24 Hours: Nico Hulkenberg leads into final hour for Porsche

Formula 1 driver Hulkenberg took over the race-leading #19 919 Hybrid from Earl Bamber with just over an hour and a half remaining.

There has been little threat from the second-placed #17 car, which has Brendon Hartley at the wheel and is comfortably clear of the chasing Audis following their troublesome morning.

While the previous hour featured several unscheduled Audi pitstops, the team's cars had a quieter hour 23, with Benoit Treluyer heading for the final step of the podium in the #7 R18 e-tron Quattro.

Polesitter Neel Jani returned to the #18 Porsche to take the finish, running in a lonely fifth place ahead of the lead Toyota (#2) of Mike Conway and the #9 Audi that lost nearly 20 minutes due to a driveshaft change in the previous hour.

For the second hour running there were occasional reports of rain around the circuit, but with 60 minutes left on the clock nothing heavy had arrived.

LMP2

Oliver Turvey moved Jota Sport up to second place, as KCMG moved within an hour of a maiden Le Mans LMP2 victory.

Nicolas Lapierre continued to lead at the front of the field, starting the penultimate hour with a buffer of 50s and finishing it just under a minute clear.

However, unlike recent hours, Turvey was his closest challenger, not Sam Bird.

As Jota continued its recovery from a first-hour electronic problem, Turvey reeled in and passed Bird's G-Drive (OAK) Ligier.

Pipo Derani now sits fourth in the other G-Drive entry, with the Honda-powered OAK encountering mechanical problems with Laurens Vanthoor behind the wheel.

Vanthoor limped back to the pits and is yet to reappear.

GTE

Corvette is one hour away from GTE Pro victory after an attrition-hit class battle claimed the AF Corse Ferrari in the penultimate hour.

The #51 458 Italia spent half an hour in the pitlane to fix a gearbox problem, which dropped the car out of the lead but still on for a podium in third.

Chevrolet's C7.R is being chased by the #71 Ferrari, which started the race last-but-one on the grid after a qualifying penalty, but Davide Rigon is five laps down.

The problems for the Pro cars have allowed the lead GTE Am entries to nip ahead into second and third overall in GTE.

It's still an Aston Martin walkover there, with the #98 Vantage two laps clear of the #72 SMP Ferrari.

POSITIONS AFTER 23 HOURS