Toyota heads opening hour of Le Mans 24 Hours

Toyota has taken the lead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with their #8 entry, as the most prestigious endurance race completes its first hour of running. 

Feature image credit: Toyota

One hour, 23 hours to go. That’s the story so far in Le Mans at the iconic Circuit de la Sarthe, as Toyota currently heads the field ahead of the #20 BMW and #35 Alpine as the overall leaders of Le Mans. 

Kevin Magnussen, #15 BMW, started the prestigious event on pole position as Cadillac lost pole position due to a pit lane infringement on Friday, but the Dane quickly lost the race lead when the race got underway. 

The #15 BMW was quickly swamped by the #12 Cadillac into the opening corners. However, by the end of the Mulsanne straight, the #20 BMW – driven by Rene Rast – was the overall race leader of Le Mans, having overtaken the Cadillac. 

Embed from Getty Images

By the 30-minute mark, Magnussen had dropped to fourth overall as the BMW fell backwards, just before the hypercar class started to lap the slower LMGT3 field. 

17 minutes before the hour, the #61 Mercedes of Iron Lynx brought out the yellow flag after it spun out on its own, towards the entry of the Mulsanne Straight. It was able to get going in the right direction, but it had suffered some damage to its front-right bumper. 

So, who leads whom after the first hour of the 24 Hours of Le Mans?

Hypercar 

1. Toyota, #8 
2. BMW, #20 +7.470s
3. Alpine, #35 +13.087s

LMP2

1. IDEC Sport 
2. Forestier Racing by Panis +3.814s
3. Duqueine Team +12.097

LMGT3 

1. Akkodis ASP #78
2. Heart of Racing #27 +16.150s
3. Akkods ASp #87 +17.987s

Read more World Endurance Championship content here:

• Cadillac fastest after Le Mans 24 Hours free practice 1
• Weather forecast: the latest ahead of WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans
• Toyota take WEC win on Ferrari home turf at 6 Hours of Imola
• Toyota leads ahead of Ferrari at WEC 6 Hours of Imola
• Ferrari heads 6 Hours of Imola after opening hour
• 6 Hours of Imola: The latest weather forecast for WEC opener

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.