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.

The No. 50 car had been a contender to repeat its 2024 overall victory with the same team of drivers, until trouble during the night shift.

The trio of 499Ps are looking good to register a third consecutive Le Mans win for the Prancing Horse, while Porsche is best of the rest with six hours to go