Even the #4 Porsche 963 shared by Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy and Pascal Wehrlein was on the pace, 1 minute off the lead.

Porsche in the lead was a surprise, as the Hypercar, already victorious at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, seemed to lack performance throughout the week's testing. On the other hand, we expected to see the Cadillacs and BMWs equally at ease, but that wasn't the case.

French brands Alpine and Peugeot were struggling. For the brand with the arrowed A, a lack of grip seemed to be preventing the drivers from keeping up with the pace. For the 9X8s, still unseated since practice, it was difficult to run below 3:30 and maintain contact with the leading group. The first warning of the race came from the Lion: Paul Di Resta went off at the Porsche corner and sent his engine cover flying. He triggered the first slow zone.

The pursuers are running out of steam

What if 2025 was going to be the year of Porsche? Everything suggested so, shortly before 7 p.m., when Laurens Vanthoor (who had taken over from Kévin Estre in the #6) took the lead over Mathieu Jaminet (who was taking over from Julien Andlauer) thanks to an overtake on the outside in the Porsche bend. A sort of ease, a facility, emanated from the German clan.

However, at the start of Saturday evening, the first cracks in the road map were appearing . Shortly after 8 p.m., Laurens Vanthoor saw the 499Ps close in on him. He put up a good fight, but Robert Kubica in the #83 and then Antonio Giovinazzi in the #51 took the lead, respectively at Indianapolis and Arnage. The fifth hour of the race opened with a Ferrari hat-trick!

From then on, only two Hypercars responded to the three 499Ps  : the #6 Porsche, still on its starting momentum, and the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid superbly driven by Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. Affected very early by problems on the #7 with the livery paying homage to the 1998 GT-One (running off the track, speeding in the pits), the Japanese brand placed its hopes in the #8.

The night at Le Mans would shake the certainties of all the teams. The Ferrari clan, so dominant at the start of the race, saw its progress slowed by errors on the track. The #51 was the first to falter: speeding in the pit lane cost Antonio Giovinazzi a 20-second stop-and-go penalty, before a puncture came to break his momentum once again. The #50 also lost ground, the victim of a five-second penalty for cutting the Dunlop chicane.

That's when the race changed. At 3:15, Cem Bolukbasi's (Oreca 07-Gibson #24 Nielsen Racing) crash at Tertre Rouge prompted the safety car. The time lost due to penalties accumulated by the 499Ps was no longer significant, as all the Hypercars had regrouped.

The gaps gained through pure pace were melting away. The race had started with a bang; those who had fallen behind saw this as an opportunity to come back. This was the case for Toyota, which had been battered at the start of the race, and which regained its chances of victory with the #8, which this intervention allowed to reposition itself. The situation also benefited the #8 Porsche , which held the lead ahead of the Toyota. The Ferrari hat-trick glimpsed at the start of the evening was slipping away.

Ferrari, inevitably

Day broke on an unimaginable spectacle: the #51 and #83 Ferraris were battling it out, as if the previous 16 hours of racing had been nothing more than a warm-up. James Calado on the red (#51) against Philip Hanson on the yellow (#83). The two Britons, separated by two seconds and united by the same prancing horse, were battling it out. In the second chicane of the Mulsanne Hills, James Calado took the lead with a surgical move, but the sister car in the livery of the city of Modena remained in his shadow, threatening.

The #6 Porsche, so dominant yesterday, found itself a spectator in this fratricidal duel. Inevitably, and despite the mastery of Laurens Vanthoor and Kévin Estre, the German team's offbeat strategy was no longer paying off. The #6 had become accustomed to alternating at the front with the 499Ps, depending on the order of pit stops (not all of these Hypercars stopped at the same time). But pure pace spoke for the Ferraris.

The Porsche clan was going through complicated times; the other 963s were penalized for errors during slow zone procedures, which generated penalties.

Nicklas Nielsen, in the #50 Ferrari, was harassing Sébastien Buemi's Toyota. Twice, the Dane smashed the lap record. Twice, the four-time Swiss winner resisted. But the Ferrari got through thanks to a faster pit stop. The dream hat-trick was taking shape .

Dawn also brought its share of rebirth behind the Italian march. The Cadillacs, asleep in the heat of the previous day, were finally waking up. Earl Bamber in the #38 posted a blistering time of 3:26.944, the first to go under 3:27, while Stevens rediscovered the drive that had earned his Hypercar pole position in the #12. But it was already too late.

The final two hours were intense: Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche 963, alone between the three Ferraris, fought like a devil. He broke a potential one-two punch. Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Philip Hanson won ahead of Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell, with a lead of 14.084 seconds.

Inter Europol Competition returns to LMP2

Mathias Beche transformed his pole position into a stunning display at the start. The #29 TDS Racing Oreca pulled away with disconcerting ease: five laps were enough for the Swiss driver to open up a five-second gap, while Louis Delétraz, more incisive than ever, propelled "Spike" (#199 AO by TF) into second place.

The Dunlop chicane offered its first dramatic twist: David Heinemeier-Hansson (#22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson) and the #193 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Ferrari made contact, causing a synchronized waltz in the middle of the track. Miraculously, the pack avoided disaster. But the real turning point came shortly after, when the #29, until then dominant, saw its hopes evaporate in a collision with the #37 CLX Pure Rxcing team.

Inter Europol Competition then entered the scene. Tom Dillmann, sitting at the helm of the #43, set a high pace, as only he can muster. His teammate Jakub Smiechowski, despite a recalcitrant gearbox, maintained this dominance. Only the #48 of the VDS Panis Racing team, driven by a graceful Esteban Masson, managed to keep the pace at around twenty seconds after four hours of racing.

The night in Sarthe was not kind to the crews. The first warning came with the Nielsen Racing #24 crashing out of the Tertre Rouge, with Cem Bolukbasi extricating himself from his car after a severe impact. In the aftermath, the RLR M Sport #16 car, which was involved in a collision with the Algarve Pro Racing #25, saw its ambitions dashed.

The final blow came from André Lotterer, a three-time winner of the event. His right rear wheel came off before the second chicane of the Mulsanne Speedway, abruptly ending IDEC Sport's hopes for the #18. A disappointment for the German and his rookie teammates, Jamie Chadwick and Mathys Jaubert.

Four hours before the checkered flag, the duel between Inter Europol Competition and VDS Panis Racing was still holding its own... and would come to a conclusion just minutes from the finish. As in 2023, Inter Europol Competition won, the Polish team's second victory in Sarthe.

The final step of the podium was decided between the #9 Iron Lynx-Proton and the #199 AO by TF, with "Spike" winning. The second LMP2 car driven by IDEC Sport, the #28, which had been on the podium for a long time, did not see the checkered flag. A wheel loss similar to that of the sister car stopped Job Van Uitert in the S de la Forêt.

Porsche back on top in LMGT3

Mattia Drudi, imperial in the fast lap exercise, escaped from the start in the #27 Heart Of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 . At the same time, François Heriau (in the highly visible #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari) spun during a heated duel with the #85 Iron Dames Porsche driven by Célia Martin.

That's when Valentin Hasse Clot showed up: the #10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin took the lead after a masterful overtake on Ahmed Al Harthy's #46 BMW on the Mulsanne Straight.

Valentino Rossi demonstrated that his talent wasn't limited to motorcycle racing. The "Doctor" fought back and brought the #46 Team WRT BMW into the lead, before Le Mans struck: his teammate Kelvin van der Linde saw their hopes bogged down in the gravel at Porsche Corner. The WRT curse didn't end there. The sister car (#31) met an unlikely and cruel end: a high-speed rabbit strike that forced the team to make multiple stops before throwing in the towel.

The Iron Dames were experiencing a real ordeal : their #85 Porsche found itself trapped in the gravel trap after a collision with the #87 Lexus of Akkodis ASP. An incident that even caused a spin from the #36 Alpine, surprised by this sudden slowdown.

An almost unexpected hierarchy was revealed with the first rays of light from the show: the #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 set a blistering pace. Even a penalty for failing to respect the yellow flags didn't disrupt its dominance. It would win. The #21 Ferrari and the #81 TF Sport Corvette held onto their places of honor.

The final hours offered an epic duel between Mattia Drudi (#27) and Jack Hawksworth (#78) for fourth place, their Aston Martins and Lexuses trading blows. A last stand for the second, who finally surrendered in the Porsche bends, with broken suspension.

Top 5 of the general classification

• 1.Ferrari 499P #83 AF Corse – Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson
• 2.Porsche 963 #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport – Kévin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell
• 3.Ferrari 499P #51 Ferrari-AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi
• 4.Ferrari 499P #50 Ferrari-AF Corse – Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina
• 5.Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Will Stevens / Norman Nato / Alex Lynn

The winners of the other categories

• LMP2: Oreca 07-Gibson #43 Inter Europol Competition – Jakub Smiechowski / Tom Dillmann / Nick Yelloly
• LMGT3: Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm – Ryan Hardwick / Riccardo Pera / Richard Lietz

The abandonments

• Oreca 07-Gibson #28 IDEC Sport – Paul Lafargue / Job Van Uitert / Sebastian Alvarez, 3:12 p.m., wheel loss
• Lexus RC F LMGT3 #78 Akkodis ASP Team – Arnold Robin / Jack Hawksworth / Finn Gehrsitz, 11:25 a.m., off track
• Cadillac V-Series.R #311 Cadillac Whelen – Jack Aitken / Felipe Drugovich / Frederik Vesti, 08:21, direction
• Oreca 07-Gibson #18 IDEC Sport – Jamie Chadwick / Mathys Jaubert / André Lotterer, 07:31 wheel loss
• Ferrari 296 LMGT3 #54 Vista AF Corse – Thomas Flohr / Francesco Castellacci / Davide Rigon, torque sensor
• Cadillac V-Series.R #101 Cadillac WTR – Ricky Taylor / Jordan Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque, 04:27, engine
• Oreca 07-Gibson #24 Nielsen Racing – Naveen Rao / Cem Bolukbasi / Colin Braun (LMP2 Pro/Am), 4:00 a.m., track exit
• BMW M4 LMGT3 #31 The Bend Team WRT – Yasser Shahin / Timur Boguslavskiy / Augusto Farfus, 03:52, breakdown
• BMW M4 LMGT3 #46 Team WRT – Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin Van Der Linde, 03:38, mechanical problem
• Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 #60 Iron Lynx – Andrew Gilbert / Fran Rueda / Lorcan Hanafin, 10:24 p.m., engine failure
• McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo #95 United Autosports – Darren Leung / Sean Gelael / Marino Sato, 10:23 p.m., breakdown
• Ford Mustang LMGT3 #88 Proton Competition – Stefano Gattuso / Giammarco Levorato / Dennis Olsen, 7:53 p.m., off the track

Fastest lap in the race: 3'26''063 Sébastien Bourdais (Cadillac V-Series.R #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA) on lap 310.