Toyota and Porsche have solidified their grip on the first part of the race. Toyota in particuliar seems to be in a position of strength. Indeed, the Toyota TS 050s are doing 14-lap stints whereas their rivals Audi and Porsche have only managed 13 laps, which means the Japanese cars are pulling ahead gradually, and can hope to save one or two stops during the race. Since each trip to pitlane takes a little more than a minute, the time saved could make the difference under the checkered flag.

Since 11:00 p.m., plenty has happened. At 11:15 p.m., the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, at the time in the lead trio, returned to the its pit (and was still there at midnight). At 11:20 p.m., it was the #7 Audi R18's turn, delayed since the start with turbo problems, to head back to its box. This edition has remained difficult for three-time winners Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer, and Benoit Tréluyer - a masking of brake ducts continues. The temperature appears to be too cool for the Audi crew, who must modify the car so the braking system doesn't get too cold.  

The race continued on but at 11:20 p.m. Paul Dalla Lana had an incident coming out of the Porsche curves. The #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, second in LM GTE Am, settled in the gravel trap. Eventually the driver restarted, and passed pitlane. François Perrodo also made a mistake. He went straight at Mulsanne in the #83 Ferrari 458 Italia, also entered in LM GTE Am. These two circumstances compelled race direction to deploy the safety car and the race continued under its rule for a little longer than 20 minutes.

Currently, Neel Jani is driving the #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid and Mike Conway is at the wheel fo the #6 Toyota TS 050 ahead of Sébastien Buemi in the #5 sister car. The three leaders are in the same lap.

LM P1
Porsche Team (#2 Porsche 919 Hybrid) Romain Dumas -  Marc Lieb -  Neel Jani
Toyota Gazoo Racing (#6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid) Mike Conway -  Stéphane Sarrazin -  Kamui Kobayashi
Toyota Gazoo Racing (#5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid) Sébastien Buemi -  Anthony Davidson -  Kazuki Nakajima

LM P2
Thiriet by TDS Racing (#46 Oreca 05-Nissan) Pierre Thiriet -  Mathias Beche -  Ryo Hirakawa
Signatech Alpine (#36 Alpine A460-Nissan) Gustavo Menezes -  Nicolas Lapierre -  Stéphane Richelmi
G-Drive Racing (#26 Oreca 05-Nissan) Roman Rusinov -  Will Stevens -  René Rast

LM GTE Pro
Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA (#68 Ford GT) Joey Hand -  Dirk Müller -  Sébastien Bourdais
Risi Competizione (#82 Ferrari 488 GTE) Giancarlo Fisichella -  Toni Vilander -  Matteo Malucelli
Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA (# 69 Ford GT) Ryan Briscoe -  Richard Westbrook -  Scott Dixon

LM GTE Am
Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing (#88 Porsche 911 RSR) Khaled Al Qubaisi -  Patrick Long -  David Heinemeier Hansson
Scuderia Corsa (#62 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2) Bill Sweedler -  Townsend Bell -  Jeff Segal
AF Corse (#55 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2) Duncan Cameron -  Aaron Scott -  Matt Griffin

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Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO