Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA retained control of the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans as daylight returned to the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Will Stevens led in the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R after 16 hours, holding a 48-second advantage over Brendon Hartley in the #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid. Meanwhile, Sheldon van der Linde remained within striking distance for BMW M Team WRT in third.
The three leading cars had aligned their pit-stop strategies by the two-thirds mark, creating a direct fight between Cadillac, Toyota and BMW for the final eight hours.
Cadillac maintains control at daybreak
Stevens inherited the leading #12 Cadillac after Norman Nato completed a rapid early-morning stint. Nato set a new fastest lap shortly after 06:00 with a 3:26.305, reinforcing Cadillac’s pace as the race moved through the cooler dawn conditions.
Toyota then responded through Sébastien Buemi. During his third spell in the #8 car, the Swiss driver recorded a 3:25.968 approximately 90 minutes later and lowered the outright race benchmark.
However, Toyota had already lost valuable time after receiving a drive-through penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement shortly after 04:00.
The sanction allowed Cadillac to increase its advantage. Consequently, Stevens led Hartley by 48 seconds when the race reached the 16-hour mark.
BMW remains close to Toyota in third
BMW M Team WRT continued to challenge for overall victory with the #20 M Hybrid V8. Van der Linde returned to the cockpit and ran only three-and-a-half seconds behind Hartley. He therefore sat 51 seconds behind Stevens and remained close enough to pressure Toyota directly.
BMW had lost some ground during the night after featuring prominently in the opening stages. Nevertheless, the #20 car maintained a consistent pace and remained on the same strategic sequence as the leading Cadillac and Toyota.
That alignment removed many of the earlier fuel-offset complications. As a result, the leading trio entered the final eight hours with increasingly comparable tyre and fuel requirements.
Power steering failure ends #38 Cadillac challenge
While the #12 Cadillac controlled the race, the sister #38 entry suffered a major setback.
Sébastien Bourdais encountered a power steering problem at approximately 04:10. The issue forced the car into the garage and cost seven laps while Hertz Team JOTA completed repairs.
The #38 returned to the circuit but could not recover its earlier position near the front. Its race then ended shortly before the 16-hour mark.
Earl Bamber locked his brakes and ran straight on at Mulsanne Corner. The car returned to the garage after the incident, and the team subsequently retired it.
The retirement removed one of Cadillac’s leading contenders after the #38 had fought Toyota and BMW for the overall lead throughout the opening half.
Penalties delay Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac
The #101 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac also lost ground during the night.
The team received three separate drive-through penalties. Race control issued two sanctions for Full Course Yellow infringements and another for breaching slow-zone procedures.
Those penalties dropped the car from the leading group to eighth.
Although the #101 remained on the lead lap and inside the Hypercar top 10, its repeated visits through the pit lane significantly reduced its chances of joining the fight for victory.
#7 Toyota battles Ferrari for fourth
The #7 Toyota continued its recovery from the slow puncture that had disrupted Nyck de Vries during the fourth hour.
De Vries returned to the car on fresh tyres and engaged in a close battle with defending world champion Antonio Giovinazzi as daylight reached north-western France.
The Toyota held fourth, while Giovinazzi followed in fifth aboard the #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P.
The Ferrari had also recovered after Alessandro Pier Guidi received a drive-through penalty for earlier contact with the #9 Proton Competition LMP2 car.
Therefore, both cars entered the second half of the race after overcoming earlier setbacks and remained within the leading five.
Alpine places both cars inside top seven
Alpine Endurance Team maintained both A424 Hypercars inside the top seven.
António Félix da Costa held sixth in the #35 entry, while the sister #36 car climbed to seventh.
The French manufacturer had faded slightly during the early evening after featuring closer to the leaders. However, both cars continued running consistently and moved forward as several rivals encountered penalties or technical problems.
Their positions gave Alpine two opportunities to secure a strong home result during the closing stages.
Ferrari and Aston Martin complete top 10
The delayed #101 Cadillac ran eighth ahead of Yifei Ye in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari.
Ye also received a drive-through penalty for a slow-zone infringement, which prevented the privately entered Ferrari from moving further up the order.
The #009 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Valkyrie completed the top 10 with Ross Gunn behind the wheel.
Genesis Magma Racing placed its #17 GMR-001 just outside the leading group. However, the sister #19 entry suffered further problems.
Dani Juncadella stopped briefly at Tertre Rouge shortly after 05:00. The car then lost another 70 seconds in the pits while the team addressed an electrical issue.
TF Sport establishes commanding LMGT3 lead
TF Sport took firm control of LMGT3 after a quieter start to the race.
The team completed part of Ben Keating’s mandatory Bronze-rated driving time during the earlier Safety Car period. That strategy allowed Jonny Edgar and Nicky Catsburg to complete longer competitive stints during the night and early morning.
The #33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R consequently built an advantage of more than two minutes over the chasing field after 16 hours.
TF Sport’s lead represented a major turnaround after Aston Martin and Lexus had controlled much of the opening phase.
Lexus retains second despite sister car penalty
Jack Hawksworth held second in the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3.
The car remained the closest challenger to the leading Corvette, although it faced a substantial deficit with eight hours remaining.
The sister #87 Lexus dropped down the order after Clemens Schmid made contact with Takeshi Kimura’s #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 LMGT3.
The incident forced Kimura off the circuit, and race control handed Schmid a drive-through penalty.
As a result, the #87 lost the position it had established during its earlier spell at the front.
Aston Martin remains third after penalty
Zacharie Robichon held third in the pole-sitting #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3.
However, the car also received a drive-through penalty after breaching slow-zone procedures.
The sanction reduced its chances of immediately challenging the leading Corvette, although the Aston Martin remained inside the class top three.
The #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari followed in fourth despite receiving the same penalty for a slow-zone infringement.
Meanwhile, the #23 Aston Martin completed the top five ahead of the #21 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari and #91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche.
BMW and Mercedes encounter LMGT3 setbacks
The #69 Team WRT BMW also received a drive-through penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement. That sanction delayed the car after it had remained close to the front during the earlier stages.
The #62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG then ran off at the final corner at approximately 06:15. Race control introduced a slow zone to manage the incident, further interrupting the flow of the LMGT3 battle.
Duqueine retains LMP2 lead
Duqueine Team continued to control LMP2 with its #30 Oreca-Gibson. The car held an advantage of just over one minute after strong stints from Doriane Pin, Julien Andlauer and Richard Verschoor.
Inter Europol Competition remained Duqueine’s closest challenger and occupied both remaining podium positions.
The #343 Oreca ran second, 15 seconds ahead of the sister #43 entry in third.
Inter Europol had won the class at Le Mans twice during the previous three editions and remained well positioned to challenge during the final third.
Forestier Racing and TDS lose momentum
The #29 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca briefly held the fastest LMP2 lap through Esteban Masson. However, the French driver later travelled through the gravel at the Porsche Curves while navigating LMGT3 traffic. Although he continued, the excursion interrupted the car’s progress.
Kévin Estre then triggered a slow zone shortly before 08:00 after an incident at Indianapolis in the #14 TDS Racing Oreca. The former world champion clipped the inside kerb and left the circuit. Consequently, the car dropped from second in the LMP2 Pro/Am classification.
Three manufacturers prepare for final eight-hour fight
Cadillac reached the two-thirds mark with a clear lead, but Toyota and BMW remained firmly in contention.
The #8 Toyota demonstrated the fastest outright pace during the early morning, while the #20 BMW remained only seconds behind Hartley.
However, Toyota’s drive-through penalty and the retirement of the #38 Cadillac changed the shape of the battle.
With the leading three cars now running on aligned strategies, Stevens, Hartley and van der Linde faced a more direct contest as Le Mans entered its final eight hours.
Meanwhile, TF Sport controlled LMGT3 by more than two minutes, while Duqueine continued to lead a determined two-car Inter Europol challenge in LMP2.
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