Ferrari led the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans after the first three hours as further chaos ensued after numerous LMP2 and GTE crashes as rain set in.
Antonio Fuoco’s #50 Ferrari 499P was almost 20 seconds ahead of the chasing group when the safety car was called just before the end of the third hour due to heavy rain at the Porsche corners.
Fuoco’s team-mate Nicklas Nielsen effectively put the number 50 ahead by pitting early in the first hour. That put the car out of line with the rest, but Fuoco was able to regain the lead when the two Toyotas pitted under an FCY in the third hour.
Gustavo Menezes’ Peugeot No. 94 moved up to second place after shining in wet conditions, but the French driver pitted the car under the safety car, relegating Antonio Giovinazzi’s Ferrari No. 51 to second place .
Menezes returned from the pits third, ahead of Mike Conway in the #7 Toyota and Yifei Ye in the #38 JOTA Porsche, who tactically used several FCY periods to move up the leaderboard.
The No. 8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi, leading at the end of the first hour, dropped to sixth after its final pit stop ahead of Kevin Estre’s No. 6 Porsche, which suffered a gradual puncture while Laurens Vanthoor was at the wheel sat.
The number 2 Cadillac was eighth but briefly led by failing to pit under an FCY for the second hour. Jean-Eric Vergne finished ninth in the #93 Peugeot, while Felipe Nasr finished tenth in the additional #75 Porsche.
The No. 3 Cadillac lost a lap down in the second hour of racing after being hit from behind by the No. 55 GMB Aston Martin Vantage of Gustav Birch. This resulted in a three-way accident involving Ulysse de Pauw’s Ferrari No. 21 Dunlop Bridge.
The No. 3 Cadillac also suffered a double spin when rain hit the track late shortly after the No. 709 Glickenhaus crashed in the Porsche corners with Esteban Gutierrez at the wheel.
In the LMP2 class, the #48 pole-started IDEC Sport ORECA fell back to 12th place, not least due to a pit stop almost 30 seconds slower than its rivals.
It put Pietro Fittipaldi’s JOTA car #28 to the top, ahead of Julien Canal’s Alpine #36.
Two LMP2 cars retired from the race due to various incidents in the second hour. The #14 Nielsen Racing ORECA was the first to retire after Rodrigo Sales suffered a serious accident in the first chicane.
Not long after, Ricky Taylor’s #13 Tower Motorsport car crashed into the guard rails at the kink after Tertre Rouge, scattering debris throughout the track and increasing the slow zone time.
In the third hour, Frederick Lubin lost control when he drove his No. 22 United Autosports car over the white lines at the same point on the track and crashed into the side of Mikkel Pedersen’s No. 77 Proton Porsche.
There was also a change in the GTE-Am class after the Corvette, which was on pole position, pitted for suspected technical problems and lost a lap for repairs.
This left Davide Rigon’s #54 AF Corse Ferrari in the lead, ahead of Sarah Bovy in the #85 Iron Dames Porsche and PJ Hyett’s #56 Project 1 AO Porsche.