Porsche Takes Lead at Le Mans 24 Hours After Dramatic Halfway Point

In a dramatic turn of events at Le Mans 24 Hours, Laurens Vanthoor in the Porsche #6 PPM 963 now leads the race past the halfway point — capitalizing on various issues that plagued the Ferrari team.

Ferrari initially dominated with #83 AF Corse driven by Yifei Ye leading the pack, but their control began to slip when the factory Ferrari team received multiple penalties for pit lane infractions.

A major shift occurred when Cem Bolukbasi’s crash at Tertre Rouge forced the first safety car deployment of the race — shuffling the running order after most teams opted for pit stops.

After racing resumed, Porsche #6 led Toyota #8 driven by Ryo Hirakawa, while Ferrari #83 AF Corse held third position. Drama continued as Filipe Albuquerque in the Cadillac #101 WTR was forced to retire — becoming the first Hypercar casualty of the race.

In LMGT3 class, Kelvin van der Linde in the previously leading BMW #46 WRT experienced technical issues — paving the way for Porsche #92 Manthey to take class leadership with a 30-second advantage.