Toyota Gazoo Racing is looking for redemption at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, and it looks to be in the perfect position to get it.

The No. 7 Toyota Gazoo TS050 Hybrid LMP1 will start the 85th running of the historic race from pole following Kamui Kobayashi’s blistering qualifying lap. The Japanese driver pieced together a seemingly faultless lap of the 8.469-mile Circuit de la Sarthe to set a new lap record of 3:14.791.

However, Toyota knows all to well that where you start at Le Mans means almost nothing. The No. 5 Toyota was leading last year’s race after more than 23 hours only to suffer a mechanical failure on the last lap.

Here’s how to watch the 2017 running of the 24 Hours of Le mans online:

When: Saturday, June 17, at 9 a.m. ET until Saturday, June 18, at 9 a.m.

 Live Stream: FOX Sports Go </s> Smell the burning rubber and taste the coffee to keep you awake, it's time for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We have all the 2019 Le Mans live stream details right here.

24 Hours of Le Mans 2019 - where and when If you intend to watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the comfort of your own home, it's being broadcast around the globe across various networks - so keep reading to see where. The main event at the Circuit de la Sarthe runs from Saturday, June 15 to Sunday, June 16, with coverage beginning at 3pm local time - that's 2pm BST, 9am ET, 6am PT, and midnight AEST.

This year sees the Circuit de la Sarthe as home to the 87th Le Mans which has cars race for, you guessed it, 24 hours straight. This year will be the biggest yet with an expanded field of 62 cars taking part in the endurance event.

Last year's 24h of Le Mans winner Toyota Gazoo Racing will be defending its title having only just joined the World Endurance Championship Super Season in May 2018. With ex-Formula One driver Fernando Alonso racing for said team it's going to be a tough race to take, especially when you consider the team has already won the LMP drivers' championship.

It's not an easy win guaranteed though with Signatech Alpine Matmut and Jackie Chan DC Racing in the running.

Porsche has secured the GT manufacturers championship but the GTE Am fight is still to be won the number 56 of Team Project 1 Porsche of Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Linsey and Egidio Perfetti have a 23-point lead over the number 54 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Francesco Castellacci, Giancarlo Fisichella and Thomas Flohr in both the drivers’ and teams’ championship battle. The number number 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche, 90 TF Sport Aston Martin, number 98 Aston Martin and number 61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari are also all still in the fight.

Getting a Le Mans live stream is actually pretty straightforward, and there are even some very nice options to watch it all absolutely free.
• See how to watch every minute of the FIFA Women's World Cup

Get a 24 hours of Le Mans live stream from outside your country

Because of the sheer time-span of the 24h of Le Mans race, watching options aren't that readily available. We've given you some information below if you're in the UK, US, Canada or Australia. Then, even if you have one, you'll find that it's geo-blocked when you try to watch it from abroad.

So if you're desperate to watch the Le Mans 24h but are away without a broadcast, then you could always use a VPN to access your home stream. In short, a VPN allows you to change your laptop or phone's IP address to another region. We've tested hundreds of VPNs and can recommend these as the three best VPNs currently available: 1. Express VPN (comes with a 30 day money back guarantee)

 This is the #1 rated best VPN in the world right now, thanks to its security and speed. You can watch on many devices at once including Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android phone, iPads, tablets etc. Check out Express VPN and get 15 months for the price of 12.

Good news motor racing fans – the entirety of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is being shown absolutely FREE.

The bad news...this is only in France (sorry to get your hopes up!). France.TV will be live streaming the entire 24 Hours of Le Mans 2019 via the French broadcaster's website.

But that's not the only way, so maybe you can forgive us. Some of the international broadcasters have free trials with their coverage...

How to live stream Le Mans 24 Hours 2019 in the US for FREE

This year Le Mans will be shown in the US on MotorTrend TV and the MotorTrend app, with the full 24 hours broadcast live for your viewing pleasure. That means you can enjoy the action via your laptop, mobile app or tablet.

MotorTrend costs $5.99 per month subscription, or $59.99 for the year. Plus, and here's the best bit, it does a FREE 14-day trial meaning that you can sign up and watch the entire 24 Hours of Le Mans without paying a cent!

Want to watch that MotorTrend stream but are away from the US while the race is on? Then check out the information above about downloading and installing a VPN to get around any geo-block.

For the first time ever, the Le Mans endurance race will be shown on Velocity - part of the Discovery network - with the full 24 hours broadcast live for your viewing pleasure. So that means you're looking at requiring cable to watch.

And if you want to watch the broadcast in another territory, then there's always that VPN route.

How to watch Le Mans 2019 in the UK

For UK residents, the Le Mans 24 Hours will get the Eurosport treatment. That means Eurosport 1, available in lots of broadcast and streaming forms, is the channel you need for the Saturday and/or Sunday. Eurosport is available with basic Sky TV packages or with a Eurosport Player monthly (£6.99) or annual pass (£4.99/pm or single payment of £39.99) that also gives you access across loads of devices.

Want to access the action but are outside the UK? Then grab a VPN service and change you IP to a UK location.

How to watch the Le Mans 24 Hours: Australia live stream

Australia is getting Le Mans 2019 via Eurosport too. That means it can be watched via the Eurosport website or through the app or, of course, via a broadcaster that offers the channel. </s> LE MANS, France: The pole-sitting Toyota of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez led the Le Mans 24 Hour Race into the early hours of Sunday (jUN 16) as the Japanese manufacturer stayed on course for a predictable back-to-back win.

After nine hours, they had a seven-second lead on the other Toyota hybrid of Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima who triumphed 12 months ago.

Two laps off the pace was the SMP Racing car of Stephane Sarrazin, Egor Orudzhev and Sergey Sirotkin.

Most of the drama in the opening nine hours was down the field.

The Corvette of Swiss driver Marcel Fassler spun after contact with the Porsche of Japan's Satoshi Hoshino who is driving for the team backed by film star Patrick Dempsey and US television.

After two, violent clashes with the safety barriers, the Corvette had to be lifted off the circuit by a crane with the crew forced to abandon.

Alonso, 37, is signing off on another chapter of his storied career, hoping to add back-to-back Le Mans titles to his two Formula One world championships.

"It's always tough to race for 24 hours," said Alonso who is still in contention for the overall world endurance championship title this season.

Despite his caution, a win for the Toyota hybrids is almost certain.

For the last two seasons, they have been the only manufacturer on the grid after Porsche and Audi pulled out of the elite LMP1 class which this year features just six other cars. </s> Le Mans, France, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - APP - 16th Jun, 2019 ) :Fernando Alonso celebrated his second straight Le Mans 24 Hour race title on Sunday in a Toyota.

The two-time Formula One champion shared the driving with Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima with whom he triumphed 12 months ago.

Another Toyota driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, was in the lead and on course for victory only to suffer a puncture one hour from the finish. </s> The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the toughest tests in motor sports, and this year’s race proved it. After 24 hours of drama, those with a reason to celebrate were teams from Porsche, Aston Martin … and Jackie Chan.

Like 2016, the 2017 race was a heartbreaker for Toyota, which came in with high hopes of achieving its first Le Mans victory, but went away disappointed. Porsche scored its 19th win in the legendary endurance race while, due to high attrition in the top LMP1 class, one of Jackie Chan DC Racing’s lower-level LMP2 cars scored a podium. Aston Martin took the win in the GTE class, the top class for production-based cars.

With Audi out of top-level endurance racing, Le Mans was set to be a straight duel between Porsche and Toyota. The Japanese automaker came into the race strong, setting a lap record in qualifying. But the No. 7 TS050 Hybrid that set that record developed clutch problems about 10 hours into the race, and later dropped out. Shortly after, a second Toyota, No. 9, retired. That left just car No. 8, which was taken out of the running due to a long pit stop.

In a testament to the difficulty of just completing Le Mans, the No. 8 Toyota and the winning No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid were the only two of the five LMP1 cars to finish. The No. 1 Porsche developed an enormous lead, but conked out with only three hours to go. The No. 2 Porsche pulled into the lead, giving drivers Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber, and Brendon Hartley the win.

The LMP1 attrition created spots for the slower LMP2 cars on the podium, something that doesn’t normally happen. The No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07 of Oliver Jarvis, Ho-Pin Tung, and Thomas Laurent came home second overall, and won its class.

While purpose-built LMP prototypes vied for the overall win, the GTE Pro class for production-based cars featured fierce battles as well. The big question was whether Ford could pull off a second class win with its GT to follow up last year’s victory. Rule changes ultimately put Ford at a disadvantage, and the win went to the No. 97 Aston Martin Vantage of Jonny Adam, Darren Turner, and Daniel Serra. The best Ford could muster was second in class.

The end of the race turned into a straight fight between the No. 97 Aston and the No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, which went off the track and gave Aston the win. Finally, GTE Am, the lower class for production-based cars, was a Ferrari 1-2-3. British outfit JMW Motorsport scored the class win, with drivers Rob Smith, Dries Vanthoor, and Will Stevens in the No. 84 Ferrari 488. </s> LE MANS, France: Hot favourites to defend their crown, Toyota dominated the first hour's racing as the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race got under way on Saturday (Jun 15).

Mike Conway got a flying start in car No 7 from pole position, while defending champion and fellow Toyota driver Sebastien Buemi, in car No 8, was running second after the first hour in the 61-car race due to finish at 1300 GMT on Sunday.

Buemi, who won last year alongside teammates Kazuki Nakajima and the Formula 1 legend Fernando Alonso, was left under no illusions about the tussle ahead as Conway broke the lap record on his fourth lap of the Circuit de Sarthe with a time of 3min 17.297sec.

A win for the Toyota hybrids is almost certain, barring an accident, as they have been the only manufacturer on the grid since Porsche and Audi pulled out of the elite LMP1 class, which this year features just six other cars. </s> There are no guarantees when it comes to racing at Le Mans. Despite starting on pole, setting the fastest lap, and leading nearly half the race, Toyota’s hopes of victory had evaporated by hour 10. The two leading Toyota TS050 LMP1 cars retired in rapid succession due to mechanical failures, leaving Porsche with a clear shot at its third Le Mans win.

With Audi’s exit last year, the LMP1 class was a two-team race and Toyota’s best chance at finally bringing home a win at Le Mans. Last year, the automaker suffered a heartbreaking failure on the final lap. Sadly, Toyota’s hybrid prototypes again couldn’t go the distance in 2017. The race-leading No. 7 TS050 Hybrid experienced a clutch problem at hour 10 right after it passed the star-finish line and was unable to limp all the way around the 8.5-mile track to get back to the pits. Not long after, the No. 9 Toyota was hit from behind, resulting in a fire. It, too, could not return to the pits under its own power. The No. 8 car came in at hour 8 for a front motor issue, and was eventually able to return to the race to finish in eighth place.

Porsche’s No. 1 919 Hybrid takes the lead after Toyota’s late-night misfortune, but it too suffers problems shortly after 11 am. The No. 2 Porsche is still in the race, but is a few laps down. For a short time, an LMP2 car, the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07, leads the race. That team is co-owned by action star Jackie Chan and David Cheng. The No. 2 Porsche does eventually pass the much less powerful LMP2 for the win, but the No. 38 finishes second overall and just a lap down from the leader, making for a surprising podium. Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, and Earl Bamber occupy the top step, marking the first overall win for Hartley and the second overall win for Bernhard and Bamber. Oliver Jarvis, Ho-Pin Tung, and Thomas Laurent win second overall and first in the LMP2 class in the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca. It’s the first time a Chinese-owned team has placed on the podium at Le Mans. In third place overall and second in LMP2 is the No. 13 Rebellion Racing Oreca 07 of Nelson Piquet Jr., David Heinemeier Hansson, and Mathias Beche. Rebellion used to race in the top-tier LMP1 class before switching to LMP2 for the 2017 season. Ironically, the team’s first overall podium was achieved in a lower-class car.

The finishing order in the GTE-Pro class was just as surprising. Despite taking home first and third in GTE-Pro last year, the Ford GT couldn’t pull off a win to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt’s 1967 Le Mans victory. The No. 67 Ford GT of Pipo Derani, Harry Tincknell, and Andy Priaulx did place second, however. The class winner was the No. 97 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE of Darren Turner, Jonathan Adam, and Daniel Serra. That car pulled off a dramatic last-lap pass on the No. 63 Corvette Racing C7.R to bring home Aston’s first class win in a decade. The No. 63 Corvette suffered front end damage and a tire puncture after running wide trying to defend against the Aston, allowing the Ford to slip by and place ‘Vette pilots Jordan Taylor, Jan Magnussen, and Antonio Garcia on the third tier of the GTE-Pro podium.

The 2017 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans proves it’s the toughest road race on the planet. Even if you’re the favorite to win, there are many, many obstacles between you and the finish line. </s> The 85th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans certainly provided some edge of the seat action as Porsche made a grand comeback to take home the victory. The team scored its 19th Le Mans 24 Hours after a gruelling race, beating the LMP2 cars that posed some stiff competition as Porsche managed to secure its third consecutive win. Following the no. 2 Porsche was Jackie Chan DC Racing's no. 38 car that won in the LMP2 category and finished second overall, but not before taking the lead briefly at the start of the 21st hour.

Out of the total five LMP1 cars on the grid fielded by Toyota and Porsche, three cars retired early in the race with one each from either teams was still in contention. The no. 2 car Porsche 919 Hybrid was being driven by Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber that came through to the chequered flag first, despite having to enter the pits to replace a front axle motor.

It seemed that an LMP2 car, which are about 10 laps slower than LMP1 cars might just win the 85th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The no. 38 DC Racing Oreca took the lead when the no. 1 Porsche came to a sudden stop at the 21st hour due to an oil pressure issue.

However, after spending about 65 minutes in the garage, the no. 2 Porsche was back in the race and posted a strong run catching up on lost time. The car made it back to the lead lap with just two hours remaining and Bernhard behind the wheel. From there on, Bernhard showed some incredible pace going 13 seconds a lap faster and brought the no. 2 home securing his second Le Mans win.

Finishing on the podium was a second LMP2 car - the no. 13 Rebellion Oreca driven by Nelson Piquet Jr, David Heinemeier Hansson and Mathias Beche. With the no. 35 Signatech Alpine driven by Andre Negrao went off track with 40 minutes to go, the Rebellion Oreca comfortably finished third overall in the race. Negrao had to pit for repairs and rejoined in fifth place, behind the second DC Racing car - no. 37.

Finishing sixth was the no. 32 United Autosports car, while the no. 40 Graff cara and no. 24 Manor, finished seventh and eighth respectively.

The sole surviving LMP1 Toyota no. 8 finished ninth overall with Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson behind the wheel. The car had lost nearly two hours in the 8th hour, due to a front motor battery replacement. However, the team did finish second in the LMP1 points class. </s> LE MANS, France: Double Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso won the Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race for the second year in a row on Sunday with Toyota team mates Kazuki Nakajima and Switzerland's Sebastien Buemi.

The number eight car crew, who took the lead with an hour to go, were also crowned world endurance champions with Nakajima driving the final stint and becoming the first Japanese to win the title.

Toyota's number seven TS050 hybrid car, crewed by Britain's Mike Conway, Japan's Kamui Kobayashi and Argentina's Jose Maria Lopez, led most of the way but suffered two late punctures and dropped to second in a one-two finish for the Japanese manufacturer.

Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne - Alonso's former McLaren Formula One team mate - finished third in his debut Le Mans with Russian team mates Vitaly Petrov and Mikhail Aleshin in the number 11 SMP Racing BR Engineering car. </s> Updates from the 85th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will follow throughout the day in this post.

HOURS 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (2 hours to go, back to Tony)

7 a.m. ET – After a sleep and a long stint by Kyle, picking this back up… and there’s no good idea where to start.

So Porsche looked set to win Le Mans overall, and they may still do so, but with a different car.

The No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Andre Lotterer, Nick Tandy and Neel Jani had the lead, but lost oil pressure with a lead of more than 13 laps on track in Hour 21.

So that brought the No. 2 Porsche into contention, with the sister car of Brendon Hartley, Timo Bernhard and Earl Bamber, despite having lost more than an hour earlier in the race with its front axle issue.

With under two hours to go, that car was less than a lap behind the new overall leader – the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 car with Oliver Jarvis, Thomas Laurent and Ho-Pin Tung.

The LMP2 fight sees the Nos. 38, 35, 13 and 37 Orecas (35 being an Alpine A470) all in the overall top five before sixth-place United Autosports with the first of the Ligier JS P217s.

Five manufacturers run in the top five spots in GTE-Pro with the No. 63 Corvette, No. 97 Aston Martin, No. 91 Porsche, No. 67 Ford and No. 71 Ferrari.

In GTE-Am, the Nos. 84, 55, 62 and 61 Ferraris run in the top four positions in class.

Elsewhere, more cars beyond the remaining LMP1 entries have had further issues.
• Richie Stanaway crashed out the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage V8, one of the GTE-Pro contenders.
• Radiator damage has taken the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE out of the race.
• Both Vaillante Rebellion Orecas have had issues, a starter motor issue affecting the No. 13 car and a gearbox issue affecting the No. 31 car.
• A crash for the No. 28 TDS Racing Oreca at the Porsche Curves took that car out of the race.

The race will now be a crazy fight to the finish, with no idea who will win overall.

11 p.m. ET – Sunrise on Sunday morning closes in at the 85th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The class leaders are as follows:

The No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid continues its lead overall and in LMP1, with three-time Le Mans winner André Lotterer at the helm now. The No. 2 Porsche continues its charge forward, with Brendon Hartley now sitting second in class and 13th overall. The No. 8 Toyota TS050 is also still in the fight, with Kazuki Nakajima now running 30th overall, but still third in class.

Oliver Jarvis has moved to the lead in the LMP2 class and sits second in the overall running order in the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07 Gibson. Nelson Piquet Jr. runs second in the No. 13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca 07 Gibson, while the No. 31 entry experienced brief problems at the beginning of Hour 13 and spent a couple laps in the garage area. It quickly rejoined the fight, and sits third in class, with Julien Canal now at the wheel, albeit a lap down to class-leader Jarvis.

Aston Martin Racing continues to head GTE Pro, with Nicki Thiim leading the way in the No. 95 Vantage V8 and teammate Darren Turner running second in the No. 97. However, with eight cars on the same lap in GTE Pro, their lead is far from comfortable. The GTE Pro field did see another retirement in the form of the No. 92 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR, with driver Michael Christensen spinning and crashing at the beginning of Hour 14.

In GTE Am, the No. 84 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE continues to pace the class, with Will Stevens now its pilot.

9 p.m. ET – Following a chaotic four-hour stretch, Hours 11 and 12 during the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans were remarkably calm. The leaders are as follows:

Nick Tandy assumed the lead following the troubles of Toyota Gazoo Racing and continues to lead overall and in the LMP1 class, now ten laps ahead of the second-place David Heinemeier Hansson in the Rebellion Racing No. 13 Oreca 07 Gibson. Teammate Nico Prost had been leading, but was forced to pit after reporting on the radio that something on the car had broken, possibly involving the gearbox. The team rolled it back into the garage immediately to begin repairs. Their problems also moved Ho-pin Tung, in the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07 Gibson, to second in the LMP2 class.

The GTE Pro class remains wide open, with the top six cars all on the same lap. As of writing, Richie Stanaway leads in the No. 95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8, ahead of teammate Johnny Adam in the No. 97 entry.

In GTE Am, Dries Vanthoor maintains his lead in the No. 84. JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE, with Euan Hankey running second in the No. 90 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage V8.

Of note: the No. 2. Porsche 919 has been steadily working its way back forward following front axle problems early on. With Brendon Hartley now its pilot, the No. 2 entry sits 16th overall at the moment (second in the LMP1 class), and is on pace to reach second in the overall running order prior the race’s end.

7 p.m. ET – Huge drama has it the 24 Hours of Le Mans as Hour 10 concludes. The class leaders are below:

Most notably, the No. 7 Toyota TS050, in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi and the dominant overall leader through the first 10 hours, slowed dramatically on course following a safety car period near the end of Hour 10. Kobayashi was reportedly unable to accelerate when racing resumed and was coasting slowly around the track on its way back to the pits. As of writing, it is unknown what the exact problem is, but the team indicated it may be a clutch problem. Kobayashi ground to a halt before the Porsche curves.

The troubles for Toyota have moved the No. 1 Porsche to the overall lead, with Nick Tandy at the helm. This comes after a clumsy moment for the No. 1 machine, as driver Neel Jani spun under the safety car while entering the pits for a driver change. However, he quickly recovered and the car suffered no damage.

The aforementioned safety car was for a spin involving the No. 66 Ford GT of Oliver Pla, who subsequently dropped gravel onto parts of the circuit. The long cleanup necessitated a safety car.

Meanwhile, the No. 9 Toyota TS050 encountered problems of its own that forced it to retire. Following contact with another car, the No. 9 machine suffered a left-rear puncture and incurred irreparable damage, highlighted by a small fire at the rear of the machine, while driver Nicolas Lapierre tried to nurse it back to the pits. Shortly after arriving, the car was retired and garage doors shut.

The No. 31 Rebellion moves back into the lead of LMP2, with Nico Prost behind the wheel now, while Dirk Werner has cycled to the front in GTE Pro in the No. 92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR. Dries Vanthoor continues to lead GTE Am in the No. 84 Ferrari 488 GTE.

5 p.m. ET – Just over a fourth of the way into the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, the leaders at the end of Hour 8 look like this:

Several frontrunners across all classes have encountered problems, however. While the No. 7 Toyota TS050 continues to lead, the sister No. 8 entry, with Sébastien Buemi at the wheel, suffered mechanical problems, with smoke coming from the right-front brake. Buemi drove the car into the pits, where it was promptly wheeled into the garage for repairs, and it remains there as of writing.

In GTE Am, the No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage V8, in the hands of Pedro Lamy, suffered a major right-front tire failure that ripped the right front corner off of the car. Somehow, Lamy managed to keep control of the car and navigated it back into the pits. However, the car lost four laps as the team made repairs and allowed Will Stevens in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE into the class lead.

Also, the No. 64 Corvette, in the hands of Tommy Milner, suffered a huge crash in the Porsche curves when the left-rear wheel and tire fell off, causing him to spin and back into the barrier. Despite also spinning at the pit entry, Milner returned the No. 64 to the pits, where the team made quick repairs and the car has returned to the race, albeit four laps off the class lead.

Up front, the No. 7 Toyota TS050 remains in the lead, with Mike Conway now at the helm, despite incurring a black and white flag for abusing the track limits. In LMP2, the No. 13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca 07 Gibson, in the hands of Nelson Piquet Jr., moves to the lead following a drive through penalty on the No. 31 of teammate Bruno Senna for overtaking in a slow zone.

3 p.m. ET – This year’s Le Mans has reached the one-quarter distance mark, and completed the length of a standard FIA World Endurance Championship race (six hours). Here’s your Hour 6 leaders:

Further updates are below. The No. 2 Porsche has returned to the track but has lost 19 laps, and will now have a fight the rest of the race to make its way up the order. At current lap projections, the LMP2 leaders might be 24 to 25 laps off the overall pace, so there’s an outside shot at an overall podium for this car if there’s no further issues.

The concern over increased speeds in LMP2 bore fruit when Mathieu Vaxviere attempted to pass two GT cars while using the runoff area on the Mulsanne Straight going into the first chicane. Vaxviere thought he’d cleared both of them but instead came up and crashed into Pierre Kaffer’s No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE, destroying the team’s brand new chassis on entry into the chicane. Kaffer was OK but the car was not, which ends the car’s race.

That brought out a couple slow zones for barrier repairs and slowed the overall pace of the race.

David Cheng had a spin in his No. 37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07, exiting the Porsche Curves, near the end of the sixth hour.

In the fifth hour, the third Toyota had an issue when the passenger’s side door of Yuji Kunimoto’s No. 9 Toyota TS050 Hybrid came open.

1 p.m. ET – The race is through the four-hour mark, with 20 to go at 7 p.m. local time. Here’s your Hour 4 leaders:

A handful of updates to note. First off, the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid has stopped and gone into the garage, with Earl Bamber driving, courtesy of what Bamber called a front axle issue to Radio Le Mans. That’s cost the car several laps and has taken it out, in all likelihood, of any sort of win contention.

A tattered left rear tire has also slowed, but not completely stalled out, prior GTE-Pro class leader Marco Sorensen in the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage V8. Sorensen limped the car into the pits and lost a couple minutes, but have recovered.

The sister No. 97 Aston, in the hands of Daniel Serra, fought off a hard-charging Harry Tincknell in this stint. Tincknell was in the No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford GT, with Tincknell handing the car off to Pipo Derani at the most recent pit stop.

IndyCar star Tony Kanaan is into the No. 68 Ford, meanwhile, for his first race stint at Le Mans. Ryan Briscoe was currently in the No. 69 Ford and due to hand off to Scott Dixon shortly thereafter. Like Kanaan, fellow Brazilian rookie Rubens Barrichello has made his Le Mans race debut in the No. 29 Racing Team Nederland Dallara P217 Gibson, and told Radio Le Mans his first stint was “wonderful.”

Ben Keating also had a moment at the start of the fourth hour. In his No. 43 Keating Motorsports Riley Mk. 30 Gibson, Keating and a GTE-Pro Porsche 911 RSR collided at the Dunlop Chicane, with Keating then losing control of his car and crashing into a couple signs. Both he and the car were OK and resumed after the incident.

Up front, while the No. 7 Toyota in Kamui Kobayashi’s hands pulled away, Nick Tandy ran a stronger stint to get ahead of Anthony Davidson by a significant margin for second in his No. 1 Porsche vs. Davidson’s No. 8 Toyota.

11 a.m. ET – Here’s your leaders at the end of the second hour:

Of those four leaders though, the No. 69 Ford – a car driven by Westbrook, Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon – has had a long stop for a rear decklid change with a lighting issue. That adds to the car having lost its in-car camera earlier in the race, and it will drop back a bit as a result.

Meanwhile, three retirements have already popped up into the second hour.

Two cars have collided at the Porsche Curves, and both are out following that collision. Roman Rusinov’s No. 26 G-Drive Racing Oreca 07 contacted Khaled Al Qubaisi’s No. 88 Proton Porsche 911 RSR, with Al Qubaisi’s car suffering significant rear end and front end damage. Al Qubaisi, who was due to share the car with Klaus Bachler and Stephane Lemeret in an under-the-radar GTE-Am class lineup, only ran 18 laps.

Al Qubaisi told Radio Le Mans’ Nick Daman, “I was always contemplating something (bad) like this before the race. There’s only one line. You can’t open it up. He was too far away to make a proper dive.”

The No. 26 car’s race went from bad to worse after Rusinov was called to the stewards’ office for driving conduct, and then its chassis manufacturer, Oreca, confirmed the car’s retirement. This means polesitter Alex Lynn won’t be able to race in his Le Mans debut. The car completed only 20 laps.

ByKolles’ car is also out of the race, Oliver Webb confirming the car’s retirement after just 7 completed laps.

10 a.m. ET – The race is underway with all 60 cars. First hour leaders are below:

A spirit of unity was on the grid for the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans between the Formula 1 and FIA World Endurance Championship, as evidenced by FIA President Jean Todt below. Chase Carey then waved the tricolore to get the race underway.

The first issue struck on the opening lap with an apparent left rear puncture for Oliver Webb in the No. 4 ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01 NISMO, as he limped the car back to the pits. He then hit a cone, which required a nose change.

Quite a number of LMP2 cars have had issues in the first hour. To wit:
• Gustavo Menezes, defending LMP2 class winner and WEC class champion, made a rare mistake running long in the Mulsanne Corner in the No. 36 Signatech Alpine A470 Gibson. He got out of the gravel and returned to the pits, but this brought out the first Slow Zone of the race.
• The No. 22 G-Drive Oreca 07 (run by DragonSpeed) went behind the wall with an alternator belt issue, per FOX Sports’ Andrew Marriott. Ryo Hirakawa was driving.
• The polesitting No. 26 G-Drive Oreca (run by TDS) required a change of nose after a spin at Ford Chicanes. Roman Rusinov was driving.
• Graff’s No. 39 Oreca, driven by Eric Trouillet, limped back with a left front puncture.
• A starter issue occurred to the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca on its first pit stop with Oliver Jarvis driving, per Radio Le Mans.

Those issues came among a run of early pit stops for the LMP2 contingent, all pitting around or shortly after the 30-minute mark.

At 46 minutes into the race, Sebastien Buemi got his No. 8 Toyota ahead of Mike Conway in the No. 7 Toyota, following an arguably way too intense scrap for the first hour!

The GTE-Pro and Am races were pretty close through the opening hour and the field is through its first round of pit stops.

Weather looks good, but warm, the rest of the race!

8:30 a.m. ET – The cars are on the grid with the final preparations being made before the rolloff at 9 a.m. ET, 3 p.m. local time in France.

High temperatures are set to throw an added degree of unpredictability into this year’s race. You can view our preview here.

This photo from ACO President Pierre Fillon on the starting grid showcases the anticipation.

Here’s the final starting grid. TV coverage is split between FS1 and FS2 with full streaming via FOX Sports Go; Radio Le Mans also has full radio coverage on its website as well.
Toyota Gazoo Racing wins the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans.