LM24, Hour 2: Cadillac ahead of the chaos

The frantic, incident-packed start to the centenary Le Mans 24 Hours continued in the second hour of the race, which is currently being led by the No. 2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R of Earl Bamber.

Hypercar has been exhilarating but complicated thus far, with so many variations in pit strategy and slow zones causing constant changes to the running order.

At the end of the hour, with so much about the true running order still unclear, the Cadillac led with the No. 5 Porsche 963 of Michael Christesen second, 2.9s behind.

The No. 75 IMSA-crewed Porsche is currently third with the No. 8 Toyota that led at the start of the hour down to fourth having completed a second stop.

The No. 38 JOTA is up to fifth. It’s been a remarkable run for the Hertz-liveried 963 from 60th on the grid, the team has completed three stops and using the safety car in hour 1 and slow zones to move Antonio Felix da Costa up the order strategically.

LMP2 has seen a complete order change up front, too, with the pit cycle being so drawn out. Currently, the No. 41 WRT ORECA of Robert Kubica finds itself out front, 7.6 seconds ahead of the No. 36 Alpine. The JOTA No. 28 07 Gibson is third.

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LM24, Hour 3: Rain adds to early-hour chaos

GTE Am was hugely entertaining in Hour 2. With the pit cycle being extended by safety car gamblers, the lead changed multiple times, culminating in a nose-to-tail battle for the lead between three Porsches towards the end of hour 2.

It’s been a great start for Porsche’s customers. After zero 911 RSRs made it into Hyperpole, Porsche now sit 1-2-3-4, with Matteo Cairoli in the “Rexy” Project 1 AO RSR having fought his way past Ben Barker’s GR racing Porsche, Alessio Picariello’s Iron Lynx Porsche and Rachel Frey in the No. 85 Iron Dames example during his stint.