2026 24 Hours of Le Mans: Cadillac leads BMW after six hours, Ferrari in trouble
The No.38 Jota Cadillac leads after six hours of racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Cadillac leads the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans, as the No.38 Jota car with Sebastien Bourdais heads the No.20 BMW piloted by Robin Frijns.
The battle for the lead intensified following the No.8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa cycling into first at the end of the opening hour due to its offset strategy.
The No.8 Toyota led as the second hour concluded, before the No.20 BMW of Robin Frijns, Rene Rast and Sheldon van der Linde took over at the end of hour three just as a full course yellow was called to clear debris from the track.
The No.20, the No.12 Jota Cadillac of Alex Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato and the No.101 WTR Cadillac of Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque came into the pits for an emergency fuel top-up under the FCY.
These cars pitted for their proper stop next time around, which released the No.8 Toyota back into the lead.
The No.20 cycled back into the lead when the Toyota boxed, but was coming under intense pressure from the No.38 Jota Cadiallc of Bourdais, Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber.
The No.38, with Jack Aitken at the wheel, launched his car up the inside of the No.20 BMW - driven by Sheldon van der Linde at the time - at the second chicane for the lead.
Come the next pitstop phase, the No.8 would move back into the lead at the end of hour four, before relinquishing it to the No.20 BMW when the Toyota pitted.
The No.38, with Bourdais having taken over driving duties, once again pressured the No.20 - with Frijns at the wheel.
The pair swapped positions when the No.38 bounced over the kerbs through the Karting section and lined up a move into the Ford chicane.
That allowed the No.38 Cadillac to hold the lead into the start of the sixth hour, which it would hold onto despite an off at the Porsche Curves section due to a long brake pedal.
The No.20 BMW was 30.3s down on the No.38, while the No.8 Toyota was a further four seconds back in third.
Ferrari’s hopes of a fourth successive 24 Hours of Le Mans win grew more remote over the first six hours, as its trio of cars all encountered trouble.
The No.51 of James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi was given a drive-through penalty when the latter collided with the No.9 Proton Competition LMP2 car at Tetre Rouge inside hour four.
The No.50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina spun after contact with the No.30 Duquaine LMP2 car at the Tetre Rouge right-hander.
The No.83 AF Corse Ferrari that won last year with Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson, was hit with a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release.
The leading Ferrari in hour six was the No.51 in fifth behind the No.12 Cadillac, while the No.50 Ferrari was sixth ahead of the No.36 Alpine, the No.101 Cadillac, the No.35 Alpine and the No.7 Toyota.
The No.7 suffered a slow puncture inside hour four, which forced it into an unscheduled pitstop.
The No.15 polsitting BMW hit problems late in the sixth hour after contact with an LMP2 car at the Karting section, which left the Dries Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen and Raffele Marciello car with a puncture.
Vanthoor got the car back to the pits, but it is now three laps down.
In the LMP2 class, the No.343 Inter Europol entry led the way at the end of the sixth hour, though a pitstop phase was underway.
The No.30 Duquene car spent several hours leading with Doriane Pin behind the wheel.
In LMGT3, the No.78 Akkodis Lexus led the way from the No.27 THOR Aston Martin in a tense battle for honours in that class among Lexus, Aston Martin and Porsche at this stage.
The LMGT3 class delivered the first two retirements of the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans, after the No.61 Iron Lynx Mercedes dropped out with damage.
The No.13 13 Racing Corvette retired with a technical issue.
