12 hours completed at the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans, the fight in Hypercar remains open with three manufacturers within 35 seconds. The early morning fully brought Michelin's soft tyres into the discussion, reshuffling the hierarchy that Toyota had built during the afternoon. The Cadillac number 12 of Louis Delétraz, Will Stevens and Norman Nato woke up in the lead with 198 laps, followed by the BMW number 20 34 seconds behind and the Toyota number 8 35 seconds behind. All three used different tyre compound strategies during the night, and that difference explains why the race reaches its halfway point without a clear leader.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

The first safety car of the 94th edition came at 23:40 due to the retirement of the Ferrari 54 of Vista AF Corse, which ended up in the gravel of the forest esses after contact with the Ford Mustang 88 of Proton Competition. The neutralisation split the race in two. Before that, Toyota and BMW converged on pit sequences, with the BMW running one more lap per tank, 13 laps versus 12. At the eighth hour, Sébastien Buemi decided not to change tyres on the Toyota 8, while the BMW 20 did put on fresh rubber. The Cadillac 38 of Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais and Jack Aitken fitted softs, and Bamber set 3m26.370s, the fastest lap of the race, putting the gold car 24 seconds ahead just before midnight.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

With the safety car on track, those who had already stopped gained an advantage over those who had not. Toyota took the lead momentarily, but the Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA cars had a stint plan with soft tyres that began to pay off in the early morning. Will Stevens handed over car 12 with a 15‑second lead over his teammate Aitken in the 38, and the two Cadillacs traded the lead for hours. Aitken called for a short fuel stint to come out just ahead of the Toyota 8, and the manoeuvre worked: at 03:16, the 38 led by 20 seconds over Hartley. But at 11:47, Bourdais took the 38 to the garage with a pedal‑box issue. The team worked on the front end, but the gold Hypercar did not return to the track in competitive condition. Cadillac was left with the 12 as its only reference, and Delétraz and Stevens went on to manage the advantage over Toyota and BMW.

The safety cars kept coming through the night. At 12:41, a LMP2 in the gravel triggered another FCY, and at 11:34 the Genesis 19 stopped on the Mulsanne straight with an electrical blackout. The Hypercar of Mathieu Jaminet, Paul-Loup Chatin and Daniel Juncadella was running in the top ten and was the best‑placed Genesis. Gabriele Tarquini, the team principal, had praised the car's pace minutes before the retirement. That yellow flag led to penalties: the Toyota 8, the Cadillac 101 and two GT3s received stop‑and‑go penalties for infringing the FCY procedure. Hirakawa served the penalty, costing him crucial margin in the middle of his comeback.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Toyota tried to respond by stretching the medium tyre to a quadruple stint with Buemi, a tactic also tried by the Ferrari 51 with Pier Guidi over 49 laps. But the soft tyre of the early morning cooled the Japanese margins. Hartley reported over the radio that the front grip had become "digital" due to a flat spot on the tyres, and Stevens cut the gap and moved to the lead when the Toyota 8 pitted on lap 14:20. Soon after, BMW joined in with the 20 of Sheldon van der Linde fitting softs and setting 3m26.7s, his personal best lap. With 11:55 to go, the top 5 was 12, 38, 20, 8 and 7, with the Cadillac JOTAs and the two Toyotas in a direct fight and the BMW 20 as an alternative. Ferrari, far from its fourth consecutive victory.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

Retirements and mechanical issues

The Iron Lynx Mercedes 61 broke its suspension in the early hours, the Corvette 13 of 13 Autosport stopped with a terminal problem, the Ferrari 54 of Vista AF Corse was out after the incident with the Mustang, the Mercedes 79 of Iron Lynx retired during the night, and the Cadillac 38 is in the garage out of contention. Added to the virtual retirement of the BMW 15, which lost three laps at the seventh hour after a touch with the LMP2 of DKR Engineering that blew its right tyre and then went to the pits again with a front‑end issue, the race now has five confirmed retirements and one Hypercar out of the fight. The Ferrari 50, winner in 2024, lost eight laps due to a faulty extinguisher. Nielsen got out of the car at hour 15:06, and the prototype returned to the track with no real chance.

Alpine dropped from fifth to ninth position and received team orders to swap positions between the 35 and the 36. Peugeot continues with both 9X8s three laps down and without the pace to fight at the front. Vandoorne admitted the car simply has no speed, and the team principal maintained the frustrated expression he had carried since practice.

Photo By Maxime Lantz

LMP2 and LMGT3

In LMP2, Inter Europol Competition moved to first place with the Oreca 343 of Bijoy Garg, Reshad de Gérus and Nico Müller, benefiting from the safety car bunch‑up that delayed the Duqueine 30. Andlauer, on loan from Porsche, survived an excursion into the Mulsanne gravel just before the midnight safety car. The scare only cost him time without damage. Vector Sport moved into third with car 26 of Pietro Fittipaldi. In LMGT3, the Heart of Racing Aston Martin 23 is out front, followed by the Corvette 33 of TF Sport and the Ferrari 21 of Vista AF Corse. The Lexus of Akkodis ASP, which ran first and second at the eighth hour, fell to fourth and fifth after the neutralisation. The Porsche 91 of Manthey, which had flown with Güven in the afternoon, suffered a puncture at the eighth hour from debris of the Ford‑Ferrari incident, knocking it out of direct contention.

The rising morning temperature returns the spotlight to the medium compound, precisely the one Toyota worked on from the start. The soft tyre that put Cadillac and BMW in front loses its advantage with the heat, and the 12 hours remaining will be decided by who reads that change best. The Toyota 8 also carries the stop‑and‑go from early morning, a burden that in a fight of 35 seconds could be worth an entire race.

WEC — Le Mans 24H  2026 Standings Hour 12:24:39

Pos	P.class	class	#	drivers	team	car	laps	Gap
1	1	HYPERCAR	#12	Louis Delétraz Will Stevens Norman Nato	Cadillac Hertz Team Jota	Cadillac V-Series.R	198	-
2	2	HYPERCAR	#20	Robin Frijns René Rast Sheldon Van Der Linde	BMW M Team WRT	BMW M Hybrid V8	198	+34.846s
3	3	HYPERCAR	#8	Sébastien Buemi Brendon Hartley Ryo Hirakawa	Toyota Racing	Toyota TR010 Hybrid	198	+35.745s
4	4	HYPERCAR	#83	Yifei Ye Robert Kubica Philip Hanson	AF Corse	Ferrari 499P	198	1 lap
5	5	HYPERCAR	#101	Ricky Taylor Jordan Taylor Filipe Albuquerque	Cadillac WTR	Cadillac V-Series.R	198	+1:53.120
6	6	HYPERCAR	#35	António Félix Da Costa Charles Milesi Ferdinand Habsburg	Alpine Endurance Team	Alpine A424	198	1 lap
7	7	HYPERCAR	#7	Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi Nyck De Vries	Toyota Racing	Toyota TR010 Hybrid	198	+2:06.798
8	8	HYPERCAR	#51	Alessandro Pier Guidi James Calado Antonio Giovinazzi	Ferrari AF Corse	Ferrari 499P	198	+2:49.292
9	9	HYPERCAR	#36	Frédéric Makowiecki Jules Gounon Victor Martins	Alpine Endurance Team	Alpine A424	198	+2:50.747
10	10	HYPERCAR	#007	Harry Tincknell Tom Gamble Ross Gunn	Aston Martin Thor Team	Aston Martin Valkyrie	197	1 Lap
11	11	HYPERCAR	#17	André Lotterer Luis Felipe Derani Mathys Jaubert	Genesis Magma Racing	Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar	197	1 Lap
12	12	HYPERCAR	#19	Mathieu Jaminet Paul-loup Chatin Daniel Juncadella	Genesis Magma Racing	Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar	196	2 Laps
13	13	HYPERCAR	#94	Loïc Duval Malthe Jakobsen Théo Pourchaire	Peugeot Totalenergies	Peugeot 9X8	196	2 Laps
14	14	HYPERCAR	#009	Alex Riberas Marco Sørensen Roman De Angelis	Aston Martin Thor Team	Aston Martin Valkyrie	196	2 Laps
15	15	HYPERCAR	#93	Paul Di Resta Stoffel Vandoorne Nick Cassidy	Peugeot Totalenergies	Peugeot 9X8	195	3 Laps
16	16	HYPERCAR	#38	Sébastien Bourdais Earl Bamber Jack Aitken	Cadillac Hertz Team Jota	Cadillac V-Series.R	195	3 Laps
17	17	HYPERCAR	#15	Kevin Magnussen Raffaele Marciello Dries Vanthoor	BMW M Team WRT	BMW M Hybrid V8	194	4 Laps
18	18	HYPERCAR	#50	Antonio Fuoco Nicklas Nielsen Miguel Molina	Ferrari AF Corse	Ferrari 499P	190	8 Laps
19	1	LMP2	#343	Bijoy Garg Reshad De Gérus Nico Müller	Inter Europol Competition	Oreca 07 - Gibson	187	-
20	2	LMP2	#30	Doriane Pin Julien Andlauer Richard Verschoor	Duqueine Team	Oreca 07 - Gibson	187	+22.120s
21	3	LMP2	#43	Jakub Smiechowski Tom Dillmann Nicholas Yelloly	Inter Europol Competition	Oreca 07 - Gibson	187	+1:27.692
22	4	LMP2	#29	Louis Rousset Esteban Masson Oliver Gray	Forestier Racing by Panis	Oreca 07 - Gibson	187	1 lap
23	5	LMP2	#9	Jonas Ried Kakunoshin Ohta Harry King	Proton Competition	Oreca 07 - Gibson	187	1 lap
24	6	LMP2	#37	Adrien Closmenil Ian Aguilera Theodor Jensen	CLX Motorsport	Oreca 07 - Gibson	187	1 lap
25	7	LMP2	#26	Ryan Cullen Vladislav Lomko Pietro Fittipaldi	Vector Sport	Oreca 07 - Gibson	187	+2:58.887
26	8	LMP2	#24	David Heinemeier Hansson Edward Pearson Jack Doohan	Nielsen Racing	Oreca 07 - Gibson	186	1 Lap
27	9	LMP2	#22	Rasmus Lindh Grégoire Saucy Mikkel Jensen	United Autosports	Oreca 07 - Gibson	186	1 Lap
28	10	LMP2	#28	Paul Lafargue Valerio Rinicella Job Van Uitert	IDEC SPORT	Oreca 07 - Gibson	186	1 Lap
29	11	LMP2	#4	George Kurtz Alexander Quinn Laurin Heinrich	Crowdstrike Racing by APR	Oreca 07 - Gibson	186	1 Lap
30	12	LMP2	#14	Tobias Lutke Mathias Beche Kévin Estre	TDS Racing	Oreca 07 - Gibson	185	2 Laps
31	13	LMP2	#99	Pj Hyett James Allen Dane Cameron	AO by TF	Oreca 07 - Gibson	185	2 Laps
32	14	LMP2	#183	François Perrodo Matthieu Vaxiviere Ben Barnicoat	AF Corse	Oreca 07 - Gibson	185	2 Laps
33	15	LMP2	#44	Horst Jr Felbermayr Horst Felix Felbermayr Lorenzo Fluxa	Proton Competition	Oreca 07 - Gibson	184	3 Laps
34	16	LMP2	#25	Michael Jensen Enzo Trulli Jake Hughes	Algarve Pro Racing	Oreca 07 - Gibson	183	4 Laps
35	17	LMP2	#48	Fred Poordad Tristan Vautier Romain Dumas	RD Limited	Oreca 07 - Gibson	183	4 Laps
36	18	LMP2	#222	Daniel Schneider Benjamin Hanley Oliver Jarvis	United Autosports	Oreca 07 - Gibson	182	5 Laps
37	19	LMP2	#3	John Farano Sebastian Alvarez Renger Van Der Zande	DKR Engineering	Oreca 07 - Gibson	175	12 Laps
38	1	LMGT3	#23	Gray Newell Eduardo Barrichello Jonny Adam	Heart of Racing Team	Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3	174	-
39	2	LMGT3	#33	Ben Keating Jonny Edgar Nicky Catsburg	TF Sport	Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R	174	+5.074s
40	3	LMGT3	#21	François Hériau Simon Mann Alessio Rovera	Vista AF Corse	Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo	174	+20.042s
41	4	LMGT3	#78	Tom Van Rompuy Hadrien David Jack Hawksworth	Akkodis ASP Team	Lexus RC F LMGT3	174	+29.963s
42	5	LMGT3	#87	Petru Umbrärescu Clemens Schmid José María López	Akkodis ASP Team	Lexus RC F LMGT3	174	+31.730s
43	6	LMGT3	#57	Takeshi Kimura Conrad Laursen Daniel Serra	Kessel Racing	Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo	174	1 lap
44	7	LMGT3	#62	Abdulla Al-khelaifi Julian Hanses Giuliano Alesi	Team Qatar by Iron Lynx	Mercedes-AMG LMGT3	174	+38.067s
45	8	LMGT3	#27	Ian James Zacharie Robichon Mattia Drudi	Heart of Racing Team	Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3	174	+15.172s
46	9	LMGT3	#74	Dustin Blattner Lorenzo Patrese Dennis Marschall	Kessel Racing	Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo	173	1 Lap
47	10	LMGT3	#34	Peter Dempsey Salih Yoluç Charlie Eastwood	Racing Team Turkey by TF	Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R	173	1 Lap
48	11	LMGT3	#150	Custodio Toledo Lilou Wadoux Riccardo Agostini	Richard Mille AF Corse	Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo	173	1 Lap
49	12	LMGT3	#2	Prince Jefri Ibrahim Lorcan Hanafin Ben Green	TF Sport	Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R	173	1 Lap
50	13	LMGT3	#91	James Cottingham Timur Boguslavskiy Ayhancan Güven	Manthey DK Engineering	Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3	173	1 Lap
51	14	LMGT3	#88	Stefano Gattuso Giammarco Levorato Logan Sargeant	Proton Competition	Ford Mustang LMGT3	173	1 Lap
52	15	LMGT3	#69	Anthony Mcintosh Parker Thompson Daniel Harper	Team WRT	BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo	173	1 Lap
53	16	LMGT3	#32	Darren Leung Sean Gelael Augusto Farfus	Team WRT	BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo	173	1 Lap
54	17	LMGT3	#10	Antares Au Thomas Fleming Marvin Kirchhöfer	Garage 59	McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo	172	2 Laps
55	18	LMGT3	#58	Alexander West Finn Gehrsitz Benjamin Goethe	Garage 59	McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo	172	2 Laps
56	19	LMGT3	#59	Clément Mateu Marius Fossard Valentin Hasse Clot	Racing Spirit Of Leman	Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3	172	2 Laps
57	20	LMGT3	#77	Eric Powell Ben Tuck Sebastian Priaulx	Proton Competition	Ford Mustang LMGT3	172	2 Laps
58	21	LMGT3	#92	Yasser Shahin Riccardo Pera Richard Lietz	The Bend Manthey	Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3	171	3 Laps
59	22	LMGT3	#79	Johannes Zelger Matteo Cressoni Lin Hodenius	Iron Lynx	Mercedes-AMG LMGT3	153	21 Laps
60	23	LMGT3	#54	Thomas Flohr Francesco Castellacci Davide Rigon	Vista AF Corse	Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo	110	64 Laps
61	24	LMGT3	#61	Martin Berry Rui Andrade Maxime Martin	Iron Lynx	Mercedes-AMG LMGT3	65	109 Laps
62	25	LMGT3	#13	Orey Fidani Lars Kern Matthew Bell	13 Autosport	Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R	61	113 Laps