Defending champions Ferrari filled the podium places after a quarter distance of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday as the 93rd edition of the endurance race headed into the night at the Sarthe circuit.
The number 83 AF Corse car of Robert Kubica, Yifei Yi and Philip Hanson led the number 50 factory Ferrari 499P crewed by last year’s winners Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina.
The number 51 entry of 2023 winners Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado were third with the number six Porsche Penske fourth.
Swiss tennis great Roger Federer had waved the French flag to get the race underway, with Porsche immediately seizing the lead from pole-sitters Cadillac.
Cadillac had swept the front row in Thursday’s qualifying but any advantage was short-lived as Porsche Penske’s Julien Andlauer slipstreamed into the lead from third on the grid before the first chicane on the opening lap.
Ferrari then worked their way to the front and Fuoco took the lead in the third hour on the run from Mulsanne to Indianapolis.
The race at the Sarthe circuit in north-west France features 62 cars shared by 186 drivers from 34 countries and is the fourth round of the World Endurance Championship, with 21 hypercars in the battle for overall victory.
Organisers have put the total weekend attendance at more than 300,000 spectators.
Ferrari will be able to keep the trophy at their Maranello factory if the works team completes a hat-trick on Sunday.
After a French air force flypast, retired 20-times Grand Slam winner Federer waved the flag to release the field in a rolling start for a race through the night and into the dawn.
