2026 24 Hours of Le Mans review

This 2026 FIA WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans race report was compiled by regular endurance-racing correspondent and motorsport fundi, Dr Nick van der Meulen.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the jewel in the WEC crown, is the third round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship. As for the Indianapolis 500, it is not just a weekend of racing, but a celebration of racing history. The entrants drive through the town of Le Mans for scrutineering, they meet the fans in town, before taking to the circuit. Free practice 1 began on Wednesday afternoon, before qualifying towards Hyperpole on Wednesday evening. Hyperpole took place on Thursday evening, while the race began on Saturday afternoon.

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Close Quali

There were some surprises in qualifying. Both Toyotas failed to make the cut for Hyperpole, while both Peugeots were left out as well. Cadillac #38 (Bamber/Bourdais/Aitken) posted the fastest time in Hyperpole, a mere 0,005 seconds faster than WRT BMW #15 (Magnussen/Marciello/D. Vanthoor). Unfortunately, #38 was penalised its fastest lap due to a pitlane infringement, allowing BMW to take pole position.

Early Pace

The race saw Cadillac and BMW dominate proceedings, with Toyota leapfrogging up the standings early on. The three marques were the only ones to lead the race. In the first half of the race, there were three Cadillacs running in the top five. The last third of the race saw one BMW, one Cadillac and two Toyotas vie for victory.

Resurgent

Toyota #8 (Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa) started well and systematically worked their way into the top five, which they maintained. They were trading the lead with two Cadillacs and BMW #20 (Rast/S. van der Linde/Frijns). The scenario changed with a safety car with six hours remaining, which brought the sister #7 Toyota (Kobayashi/de Vries/Conway) into play after running a different strategy.

No.8 had a slight delay in one of their pit stops, having to have the front left brake cladding repaired. This left #7 to streak off to take the marque’s sixth Le Mans victory, albeit by less than 11 seconds. It is Nyck de Vries’s maiden Le Mans triumph; Kobayashi and Conway have now won the event twice. The #8 sister machine battled with BMW #20 for the remainder of the race, eventually crossing the finish line in third place.

SA Lad

BMW had a bittersweet event at Le Mans. WRT BMW #15 started from pole position, but was mugged by the sister car #20, piloted by René Rast, on the first lap. The #20 machine ran strongly in the top four for the entire 24 hours. While the car was in the running for victory for most of the race, they eventually scrabbled past Toyota #8 to finish a fine second.

The result was BMW’s first podium at La Sarthe since their victory in 1999 and the highest finish for a South African driver, Sheldon van der Linde. The #15 machine, despite its strong qualifying, had a nightmare race. They ran solidly to begin with, but tagged an LMP2 machine and lost a tyre. Vanthoor drove slowly back to the pits, but it appeared the vibration affected the gear linkage. This resulted in a host of long pitstops, before the car was retired.

American Muscle

Cadillac had their strongest showing yet at Le Mans. Both #38 and #12 (Stevens/Delétraz/Nato) ran at the sharp end of the field and were even running first and second at midnight. Unfortunately, the #38 machine ran into trouble in the early hours of the morning, losing its power steering, resulting in retirement. While #12 remained in contention for top honours until the final hour, they faded from the tussling trio, still finishing a fine fourth. Cadillac ran a third entry for Le Mans, namely, WTR #101 (R. Taylor/J. Taylor/Albuquerque), a runner in IMSA. The outfit had a much stronger outing than last season and finished a creditable ninth overall.

Fading Ferrari

Ferrari did not show prominently throughout the weekend unable to take a fourth successive win in France. They ran behind the protagonists all race and finished fifth, despite having tangled with an LMP2 car in the fourth hour. The sister machine, #50 (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen) fought valiantly through the field to trail their teammates, only for the computer software to fail during the safety car phase with six hours remaining. The marshals pushed the stricken Ferrari behind the barrier, where it was retired. The defending Le Mans 24 Hour champion, #83 AF Corse (Kubica/Ye/Hanson), finished seventh.

Also Rans

Alpine demonstrated vast straight-line speed during the gruelling endurance event, with Ferrari struggling to keep up down the Mulsanne straight. Alpine #35 (Habsburg/Da Costa/Milesi) ran in the top three in the early stages of the race, but dropped down the order behind the protagonists. They had a long battle with Ferrari #51, eventually having to give best and take sixth position at the fall of the chequered flag. Teammates #36 (Makowiecki/Gounon/Martins) finished tenth.

Aston Martin’s wailing Valkyries ran steadily in the top ten during the event, before #009 (Riberas/Sorensen/De Angelis) ran into trouble with their left rear with barely an hour remaining. They hobbled to the pits for repair, returning to finish 14^th. The sister #007 (Tincknell/Gamble/Gunn) had better luck and claimed points for finishing eighth.

LMP2s Just At Le Mans

The LMP2 class, which only competes in WEC at Le Mans saw a number of entries hailing from IMSA, notably, the works Porsche drivers from the GTP class (formerly in the Hypercar class in WEC last season). Despite the inflow of talent, #43 Inter Europol (Smiechowski/Yelloly/Dillmann) Oreca LMP2 machine took their second Le Mans 24 Hour victory on the trot, passing their teammates #343 (Müller/Garg/De Gérus) in the final hour.

Forestier Racing by Panis Racing #29 (Masson/Gray/Rousset) finished a strong third, after an intense battle with the #343 machine with 40 minutes remaining. Vector Sport #26 (Cullen/Lomko/Fittipaldi) and CLX Motorsport #37 (Closmenil/Aguileira/Jensen) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Duqueine Team #30 (Pin/Andlauer/Verschoor) ran at the front for most of the race, but ground to a halt in the 21st hour, registering a heartbreaking retirement.

LMGT3

TF Sport Corvette #33 (Keating/Catsburg/Edgar) took a commanding victory in the LMGT3 class, after utilizing their talents strategically. Ben Keating returned to race at Le Mans a mere 9 weeks after having his right elbow reconstructed. The team ran his stint early so he could rest. Nicky Catsburg took over, leaving 22-year-old Jonny Edgar, the fastest of the three, to take the final five stints of the race. The result was a 1-lap victory over Akkodis Lexus #78 (Van Rompuy/David/Hawksworth).

Heart of Racing Aston Martin #23 (Newell/Barichello/Adam) finished a fine third ahead of Akkodis Lexus #87 (Umbräreschu/Schmid/López) and #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari (Hériau/Mann/Rovera). Class favourites, Manthey Racing, had a disastrous race, with #92 running into trouble early on, falling out of contention. The #91 Porsche, driven by reigning DTM champion Ayhancan Güven, had a massive shunt in the 19^th hour, ripping off its suspension. Thankfully, Güven walked away unscathed.

Double Points

The top ten finishers in each class score points. There are three points-scoring allocation forms, with different allocations for 6-hour, 8-10-hour and 24-hour events, respectively.

Kobayashi/Conway/De Vries lead the Hypercar championship with 75 points, ahead of Rast/Frijns with 71 and Sheldon van der Linde with 61 points, respectively. Hartley/Hirakawa/Buemi lie fourth with 56 points, while Pier Guidi/Giovinazzi/Calado have 39 points.

In the LMGT3 class, Edgar/Catsburg lead with 72 points ahead Keating with 50 points. Hériau/Mann/Rovera lie third with 40 points, ahead of David/van Rompuy with 37 points and Hawkesworth with 36 points, respectively.

The fourth round of the World Endurance Championship takes place in Brazil, with the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo on 10-12 July 2026. The circuit is short, twisty and challenging and, as ever, traffic will be a challenge to negotiate.