BMW polesitter suffers disaster as Cadillac takes control at Le Mans – Six-hour report

The #15 BMW M Team WRT, which started the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours from pole position, suffered a disaster just seven minutes before the six-hour mark.

Kevin Magnussen started the race in the #15 but immediately lost the lead to the sister #20 BMW before settling into the race behind the podium positions.

However, with the sun setting and headlights glaring, the #15's realistic hopes of victory went up in smoke as Dries Vanthoor made contact with the #3 DKR Engineering LMP2 entry while running sixth.

The incident occurred just seven minutes before the six-hour mark, with Vanthoor picking up a puncture but not noticing it until he had passed the pit-lane entry.

On the following lap, in the first sector, the tyre completely detached from the BMW, resulting in an agonisingly slow lap back to the pits. The incident dropped the polesitter to last in the Hypercar class.

At the front, it was the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota that led at the six-hour mark following a tremendous stint from Jack Aitken before he handed over to Sébastien Bourdais.

With 18 hours remaining, the #38 led the #20 BMW and the #8 Toyota, which had strategically worked its way through the field. Ferrari had started to work towards the front, although the #51 received a drive-through penalty for causing a collision.

In LMP2, the #30 Duqueine Team entry featuring Doriane Pin held the lead ahead of the #43 Inter Europol Competition car and the #29 Forestier Racing by Panis entry, which started on class pole.

In LMGT3, it was so far, so good for Lexus, with both Akkodis ASP Team cars running inside the top three. The #78 led, with the #87 in third. The #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin, which started on pole, was sandwiched between the two Lexus entries.

Unfortunately, the race had already seen two retirements, with the #61 and #13 LMGT3 entries no longer running.