The two cars may be unrivalled for now but after an afternoon and night of dramatic twists and a heavy toll of retirements, few would bet against the race taking another unexpected turn, although wet weather is no longer being forecast; temperatures are expected to rise to 27C.
From the start, damp sections of track caught drivers out, including the No311 Cadillac of Jack Aitken, which crashed out on the first lap.
Heavy rain at the Porsche Curves during the third hour wrought chaos as cars aquaplaned and spun uncontrollably into the barriers and each other.
A series of safety cars kept the field bunched up, which meant that most Hypercar teams had a spell at the front: Ye Yifei seized the lead in Jota’s No38 Porsche with an audacious restart that saw him pass four cars, then fight the No94 Peugeot for first.
But minutes after gaining the place, Ye span heavily, tearing the rear bodywork off his car and limping to the pits.
Porsche
Porsche’s four-pronged attack proved effective in the early hours, with its three factory machines and the privateer Jota car mixing it effectively at the front.
But the Jota crash and a series of other issues leaves the best-placed car five laps down. A fuel pressure failure has forced the No75 car out of the race.
Peugeot
The French team, which looked set for an underwhelming race, was the shock package of the early hours. Its cars proved especially handy on wet asphalt, and the packed grandstands had plenty of opportunities to cheer as the 9X8 took the lead more than once — on merit.
But disaster struck in the fourth hour, as the No93 car was fitted with slicks too early then slid off and was trapped in the gravel, dropping it from the lead lap.
The No94 car remained in the battle for the lead, with some success until just before 3am when Gustavo Menezes ran off and into the barriers, wrecking the front-right of the car and losing vast amounts of time as he limped back to the pits, sparks flying.
Contact with barriers looks to have ended Peugeot’s victory charge
Clive Rose/Getty Images
Cadillac
Aitken’s early crash in the No311 car was followed by Sebastien Bourdais being hit from behind by a GTE car in the second hour, which cost the No3 car almost a lap in the pits. Scott Dixon then spun in the rain, losing more time. The drivers have since recovered to run a lap behind the No2 car, showing the competitive case of the Cadillac. The team must be wondering what it could have done with a trouble-free opening.
Ferrari
The leading No51 Ferrari hasn’t had an incident-free race — Alessandro Pier Guidi slid into the gravel on Saturday evening while trying to avoid a spinning car ahead — but it has avoided the hard luck of the No50 car that started on pole.
It was fighting for the lead in the early hours of the race, but its challenge faded with some small issues in the sixth hour and then evaporated three hours later when it was wheeled into the garage with a leak that sees it five laps behind the leader.
Toyota
No7 car was a rare retirement for Toyota
Jean-Francois Monier/AFP via Getty Images
Toyota muscled into the lead on the first lap of the race, slipped back in the eventful early hours, and then pushed its way back to the front with its two championship-tested cars.
However, the eighth hour brought a rare retirement for the GR010 as the No7 car braked for a slow zone and was rear-ended by two cars. Kamui Kobayashi crawled to a halt and was stranded, leaving the No8 to fight for the honours.
NASCAR Garage 56 entry
NASCAR entry towers over the prototypes
James Moy Photography/Getty Images
Rain and NASCAR rarely meet, and it was little surprise to see the team of Jenson Button, Jimmy Johnson and Mike Rockenfeller struggle at the start of the race. Unlike many others however, they kept the car on the road and it is still hammering away, running 28th, ahead of the GTE cars and deafening the grandstands at every lap.
LMP2 and GTE
Further back, the race has taken its toll on the LMP2 and GTE categories where spins, contact and the occasional failure have seen 17 cars retire (in addition to the Porsche, Toyota and Vanwall Hypercars).
Dino-themed Project 1 – AO car is in the fight for GTE win
Thomas Fenetre / DPPI
There’s close competition in LMP2 where the No34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca, with Fabio Scherer at the wheel, leads by 20sec from the No41 Team WRT Oreca, where Robert Kubica has also been running in the lead.
The GTE battle is between the dinosaur-themed Project 1 – AO Porsche 911, currently with PJ Hyett at the wheel, Ben Keating in the No33 Corvette, ORT’s Aston Martin, driven by Charlie Eastwood and the current leader: Iron Dames with Rahel Frey at the wheel