At the halfway mark of the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours, Porsche has taken control following a dramatic shift in race order. The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, driven by Laurens Vanthoor, now leads the field after an intense battle with Ferrari and a key safety car period that reshuffled positions.
Earlier in the race, during the seventh hour, the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P driven by Yifei Ye took the lead after pit stops. The factory Ferrari cars followed closely, creating a strong front for the Italian brand. At this point, the #6 Porsche was initially falling back.
Ferrari’s grip on the race weakened when the #50 Ferrari received a drive-through penalty for a yellow flag infringement. At the same time, Porsche began working on a fuel-saving strategy. Kevin Estre, behind the wheel of the #6 car, aimed to stretch their stint and avoid an extra pit stop.
As the eighth hour began, Ferrari issued team orders. Phil Hanson, now in the #83 Ferrari, was asked to let the factory #51 car driven by James Calado take the lead. Although Hanson initially held his position, a mistake at Mulsanne corner caused him to run wide, effectively handing over the lead.
However, both the #50 and #51 factory Ferraris later received penalties for pit lane violations. This gave the #6 Porsche a chance to challenge for the lead again.
The race took a major turn shortly after the 11th hour when Cem Bolukbasi crashed in the #24 Nielsen Racing LMP2 car at Tertre Rouge. This incident triggered the first safety car period of the race, causing a 40-minute neutralization and a flurry of pit stops that disrupted the running order.
When the race resumed just before the 12-hour mark, the #6 Porsche was out front, narrowly ahead of the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID driven by Ryo Hirakawa. The #83 AF Corse Ferrari, now back with Yifei Ye, sat in third.
The #15 BMW, driven by Raffaele Marciello, used the safety car period to leap into fourth position. It was followed by the #51 and #50 Ferraris. The polesitting #12 Jota Cadillac dropped to seventh, ahead of the #5 Porsche, #38 Jota Cadillac, and #4 Porsche, which completed the top 10.
Soon after the restart, the #101 WTR Cadillac driven by Filipe Albuquerque suffered an engine failure and became the first Hypercar-class retirement.
In the LMP2 category, the #48 VDS Panis ORECA-Gibson 07 led the field at halfway, driven by Oliver Gray. The safety car did not affect its ongoing battle with the #9 Iron Lynx – Proton and the #43 Inter Europol Competition. Six cars remained on the lead lap in this class.
In the LMGT3 class, the #46 WRT BMW had been leading for over ten hours. Ahmad Al Harthy had completed his required stint as the bronze driver, and Kelvin van der Linde was at the wheel. However, the car suffered a suspected electrical issue at the Porsche Curves. Van der Linde managed to restart and return to the pits, but a second technical failure forced the car to retire.
This handed the LMGT3 class lead to the #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm Porsche, with Riccardo Pera driving. At the halfway point, it held a 30-second advantage over the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus driven by Finn Gehrsitz.
