Toyota Gazoo Racing used an aggressive opening strategy to place Sébastien Buemi at the head of the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans after the first hour.
The #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid started 15th and initially remained inside the congested Hypercar midfield. However, Toyota brought Buemi into the pits after only nine laps before giving Mike Conway a similar instruction in the sister #7 car.
As the remaining Hypercars completed their conventional opening stints, Buemi moved into the lead ahead of BMW’s René Rast. Meanwhile, Ferdinand Habsburg held third for Alpine, with Earl Bamber and Conway completing the top five.
Cavendish starts the 94th running
Sir Mark Cavendish waved the French tricolour at 4pm local time to send the 62-car field into the 94th running of the endurance classic.
The field featured 18 Hypercars, 19 LMP2 entries and 25 LMGT3 cars. In total, 186 drivers started the race, including 40 competitors making their Le Mans debuts.
Grand Marshal Sarah Bovy led the grid on its final formation lap before the start. The opening ceremony also included a rendition of La Marseillaise and a military aircraft flypast over the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Cadillac beats BMW away from the line
Kevin Magnussen started from pole position in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 but failed to convert that advantage into the early lead.
Will Stevens reacted more effectively in the #12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R and moved ahead into the first corner. At the same time, Rast challenged Magnussen in the sister #20 BMW before securing second place.
Rast then used the slipstream behind Stevens along the Mulsanne Straight and passed the Cadillac at the second chicane. Once in front, he began to build a gap as the Hypercars approached the back of the LMGT3 field.
Magnussen endured a more difficult opening stint. He reported poor brake balance and slipped to seventh before the first pit-stop cycle, while team-mate Rast continued to lead the conventional strategy.
Further back, Habsburg recovered after losing ground at the start. The Alpine driver passed Magnussen around the outside at Indianapolis, while Filipe Albuquerque and Bamber also moved forward during the opening phase.
Toyota commits to an alternate strategy
Toyota changed the race order when it called Buemi into the pits much earlier than its leading rivals.
The #8 had struggled to make substantial progress from 15th during the first stint. Nevertheless, its short opening run gave Buemi clear track and allowed him to increase his pace while Rast and the other leaders continued towards conventional fuel windows.
Conway followed one lap later in the #7 Toyota. Therefore, the Japanese manufacturer committed both cars to the same alternate approach rather than splitting its strategy.
Rast stopped on lap 13 and returned to the circuit behind Buemi. The Toyota driver then stretched his advantage to around five seconds by the end of the first hour.
Habsburg moved into third during the pit sequence after Alpine gained ground on Stevens’ Cadillac. Bamber advanced to fourth following a strong opening lap and an effective first stint in the #38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac.
Conway climbed to fifth, while Stevens dropped to sixth. Albuquerque held seventh in the #101 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, with Magnussen eighth.
Antonio Giovinazzi and Antonio Fuoco completed the Hypercar top 10 in the two factory Ferrari 499Ps.
Aston Martin and Genesis lose ground
Marco Sørensen placed the leading Aston Martin Valkyrie 11th in the #009 Heart of Racing entry after the first hour.
Meanwhile, Genesis Magma Racing slipped from eighth on the grid to 13th during the opening phase. Both Peugeot 9X8s remained at the rear of the Hypercar field and approached a one-minute deficit to the leading Toyota.
The early order therefore highlighted contrasting fortunes across the manufacturer field. Toyota moved from the midfield to the front through strategy, while BMW, Alpine and Cadillac established themselves as its closest challengers.
IDEC Sport controls LMP2
Job van Uitert maintained the LMP2 lead in the #28 IDEC Sport Oreca 07 Gibson after starting from class pole.
Esteban Masson endured a difficult opening lap in the #29 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca and dropped to sixth. However, an early stop on lap nine helped him recover to second during the first pit cycle.
Julien Andlauer moved the #30 Duqueine Team Oreca into third. Elsewhere, the #4 CrowdStrike Racing by APR entry initially ran third before losing positions when George Kurtz replaced Alexander Quinn.
Dane Cameron consequently moved the #99 AO by TF Sport Oreca into fourth, while Jack Doohan completed the LMP2 top five for Nielsen Racing.
Lexus takes LMGT3 lead during pit cycle
Mattia Drudi made the strongest start in LMGT3 and placed the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 at the head of the class.
The Aston Martin built a sizeable advantage during the opening laps. However, the first driver-change sequence shifted the class order when Ian James replaced Drudi.
Jack Hawksworth moved the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3 into first place after the stops. The second Lexus held third after Petru Umbrarescu took over from Clemens Schmid, while the two Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVOs completed the top five.
As a result, Lexus ended the first hour in control after overturning Aston Martin’s early advantage through the pit cycle.
Toyota leads as strategies begin to develop
Buemi completed the opening hour in first place, but Toyota’s early stops created a different fuel sequence from the cars behind.
Rast remained the leading runner on the conventional strategy, with Habsburg, Bamber and Conway close behind. Consequently, the true impact of Toyota’s approach depended on how the team managed its shorter stints during the following hours.
The opening phase delivered few major incidents, but the early tactical split had already reshaped the Hypercar contest. Toyota seized track position, while BMW, Alpine and Cadillac prepared to test whether the Japanese marque could sustain its advantage.
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