2025 24 Hours of Le Mans: Porsche heads Toyota at halfway mark, trouble for Ferrari

Porsche edged ahead of Ferrari at the halfway mark of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as a string of penalties brought an end to the Italian marque’s early dominance

Laurens Vanthoor led the field in the No. 6 Penske-run Porsche 963, ahead of Ryo Hirakawa in the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, with Yifei Ye dropping to third in the No. 83 customer AF Corse Ferrari.

Ferrari occupied the top three spots in the Hypercar class after six hours, but the No 6 Porsche cycled to the front at the beginning of the 10th hour courtesy of an out-of-sequence stop due to a slow puncture and superior fuel efficiency.

The customer No. 83 Ferrari still had an advantage in terms of fuel, but the No. 6 Porsche was able to go a lap further in every stint, thus reducing the deficit with every pitstop.

The pivotal moment came at the start of the 12th hour when a safety car was deployed following Cem Bolukbasi’s crash at Tertre Rouge in the No. 24 Nielsen Racing Oreca 07. 

Vanthoor brought the car into the pits under the SC, Ye following through in the No. 83 Ferrari despite still having enough fuel onboard.

Ferrari's woes deepened when Ye slipped behind the No. 8 Toyota during the ensuing round of pitstops, relegating the leading Ferrari entry to third place as the clock struck 4am local time.

The No. 51 factory Ferrari, which had taken over the lead during the ninth hour after an off for Phil Hanson in the No. 83, saw its challenge unravel due to two quick penalties — including a five-second stop/go for pitlane speeding. The sister No. 50 car also drew penalties for a yellow flag infringement and corner cutting, further compounding Ferrari’s frustrations.

Following the restart, the two works Ferraris battled for sixth place, with Alessandro Pier Guidi getting the better of Miguel Molina to move the No. 51 ahead. Both cars, however, trailed the No. 4 Porsche of Pascal Wehrlein and the No. 15 BMW of Raffaele Marciello, who capitalised on the safety car to climb the order.

The top Cadillac runner was the polesitting No. 12 Jota machine of Alex Lynn in eighth, with the top 10 completed by the No. 5 Porsche and the No. 38 Jota Porsche.

There was disappointment for Wayne Taylor Racing when Filipe Albuquerque pulled off with engine issues just before the halfway mark, making the No. 40 Cadillac the first Hypercar entry likely to retire.

LMP2: VDS Panis leads Iron Lynx

In LMP2, the No. 48 VDS Panis Oreca 07 continued to control the pace at halfway, holding a slender seven-second advantage over Reshad de Gerus in the No. 9 Iron Lynx entry.

LMGT3: Manthey Porsche leads as BMW hits trouble

The LMGT3 class saw a major shake-up as the No. 92 Manthey EMA Porsche, piloted by Riccardo Pera, emerged in the lead after running off-sequence through much of the night.

Rui Andrade held second in the No. 81 TF Sport Corvette, while Finn Gehrsitz ran third in the No. 78 ASP Lexus.

Earlier leader BMW suffered a major setback when Kelvin van der Linde went off at the Porsche Curves in the 11th hour due to what was later confirmed as a technical issue. After receiving crane assistance, the No. 46 WRT BMW returned to the pits and briefly rejoined the race — only to be retired a few laps later. It marked a premature end for the car shared by van der Linde, Valentino Rossi, and Ahmad Al Harthy.

The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari, driven by factory ace Alessio Rovera, had seized the class lead at the beginning of the 11th hour. Although still in contention for a podium, it dropped to fourth after losing time during the safety car period.