Toyota Gazoo Racing lead the 88th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a comfortable one-two formation at halfway point while Aston Martin and Ferrari continue to battle over supremacy in GTE Pro.
Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez lead the race in the #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid by one lap over the sister car, driven by Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima.
The #8 Toyota lost time when it had to be wheeled into the garage to fix a brake duct issue that had been plaguing the team since the start of the race.
Rebellion holds third place courtesy of Bruno Senna, Gustavo Menezes and Norman Nato in the #1 Rebellion R13-Gibson, with the #3 sister car the only other remaining LMP1 in the race after the #4 ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01-Gibson crashed out.
In LMP2, United Autosports are so far leading a race of attrition to head the field one-two. The #32 ORECA 07-Gibson of Will Owen, Job van Uitert and Alex Brundle heads the #22 WEC entry of Paul di Resta, Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque. The #38 JOTA ORECA of Anthony Davidson, Antonio Felix da Costa and Roberto Gonzalez is in third.
Many of the LMP2 front runners have fallen away. Racing Team Nederland experienced early mechanical issues, as did Signatech Alpine and G-Drive Racing. Jackie Chan DC Racing has been disqualified after Gabriel Aubry received outside help during an on-track breakdown. The SO24-Has by Graff ORECA, a frontrunner early on thanks to a strong stint from James Allen, holds fifth after a spin from Vincent Capillaire.
In GTE Pro, Aston Martin and Ferrari have traded the class lead back and forth throughout the opening half of the race. The #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra, while the #97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Alex Lynn, Maxime Martin and Harry Tincknell has been its closest challenger in second place, leading on several occasions. The #95 Aston Martin sits in third after the #71 Ferrari lost time in the pits with a brake issue.
Porsche, which started the race from pole, has not been a contender for class honours, with the debuting Porsche 911 RSR-19 struggling to match the pace set by the front runners.
In GTE Am, Aston Martin hold the best cards with half the race covered. The #98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Ross Gunn, Paul Dalla Lana and Augusto Farfus leads the #90 TF Sport Aston Martin of Jonny Adam, Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood, with the championship-leading #83 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Emmanuel Collard, Francois Perrodo and Nicklas Nielsen in third.
