Andlauer Maintains Lead at 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans
Julien Andlauer in the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 has secured a commanding lead in the early stages of the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans, holding a six-second advantage over Nicklas Nielsen in the #50 Ferrari 499P. Defending champion Nielsen, having navigated past the two Hertz Team JOTA Cadillacs, is settling into a consistent rhythm following his second pit stop.
The competitive atmosphere was evident as Nielsen expressed frustration after receiving a defensive maneuver from Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche. Despite this, Nielsen has managed to extend his gap over Estre to over five seconds, with Estre making significant gains throughout the opening hours.
Jack Aitken currently occupies fourth in the #311 Whelen Cadillac, followed by Will Stevens and Earl Bamber in the Hertz Team JOTA entries, rounding out the top six. The standings are further supported by the #8 Toyota of Sébastien Buemi and the #20 WRT BMW of René Rast, while the Ferraris of James Calado and Philip Hanson complete the top ten.
Dries Vanthoor has clocked the fastest lap of the race at 3:27.936 but remains 11th in the #15 BMW.
In the LMP2 category, Patrick Pilet leads the Pro/Am #16 RLR MSport ORECA 07-Gibson. The #43 Inter Europol Competition car, helmed by Silver driver Jakub Smiechowski, is in second place, benefiting from a strong double stint by Tom Dillmann. The #48 VDS Panis Racing car follows in third.
In LMGT3, Ahmad Al Harthy leads in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3, with a ten-second margin over Arnold Robin in the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus. Bernardo Sousa sits in third aboard the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang.
The race has seen its first penalties issued: ten seconds were added to TF Sport’s Ben Keating and CLX Pure RXcing’s Aliaksandr Malykhin for intra-class contact. The #28 IDEC Sport ORECA and United Autosports’ David Heinemeier Hansson each received five seconds for unsafe releases and violations, respectively.
All 62 competitors remain in the race, with no major mechanical issues reported thus far. The action continues as teams aim to maintain performance through the grueling hours ahead.
