Brendon Hartley Leads 24 Hours of Le Mans Amid Rain and Strategic Pit Stops

Brendon Hartley, Toyota driver, is leading the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, which is currently under safety car due to heavy rain. Hartley and Kevin Estre, in second place, made pit stops during the safety car period. Estre briefly took the lead from Hartley but returned it when he made his stop. Jose Maria Lopez is in third place, almost a minute behind the leaders. The race started with Nicklas Nielsen in the Ferrari #50 taking the lead, followed by Antonio Giovinazzi in the Ferrari #51. The two Ferraris held the top positions for most of the first hour. Porsche made a strategic mistake by switching to intermediate tires when it started raining, while Porsche #5 remained on slick tires. Robert Kubica in the AF Corse Ferrari #83 eventually took the lead from Nielsen, who later received a penalty for an unsafe release in the pitstop. In the eighth hour, Kubica collided with the BMW #15, causing a safety car period. When the safety car came out, Kubica stopped to change to rain tires but received a stop and go penalty. Fred Makowiecki in the Porsche #5 did not stop to change to rain tires and dropped down the field as a result. Ryo Hirakawa in the Toyota #8 took the lead and was later replaced by Hartley. Currently, Hartley is leading behind the safety car, followed by Estre in second and Lopez in third. The race has moved away from Ferrari, with Miguel Molina in the Ferrari #50 in fourth place. In the LMP2 class, Nico Varrone is leading in the AF Corse #183 Oreca 07-Gibson. Aliksander Malykhin is leading the LMGT3 class in the Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3R #92. The United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 #59 is in third place in the LMGT3 class.