The No.7 Toyota TS050 driven by Stephane Sarrazin holds the lead a quarter of the way through the 24 Hours of Le Mans, ahead of the No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid.
Sarrazin’s team-mate Mike Conway took over first place from the No.8 Toyota in the second hour, before further strengthening its advantage.
Porsche started to reel the No.7 TS050 back though in the fifth and sixth hour, even spending a short part of the race at the front with Andre Lotterer while the Toyota took to the pits.
Sarrazin claimed back first place when Lotterer dived into the pits and held a 26 second lead after 96 laps of running, just past the six-hour mark as the sun began to set.
The hour was completed under yellow flags and with slow zones, due to a crash between the No.82 Ferrari and No.28 TDS Racing LMP2 machine, plus a spin for David Cheng in the No.37 Jackie Chan DC Racing LMP2 car.
The No.8 Toyota of Kazuki Nakajima was closing in on the leading two and was just 31 seconds off the lead by the conclusion of the sixth hour.
Meanwhile the third and final Toyota, the No.9, was one lap down in fourth after losing time due to an unscheduled pitstop for a slightly ajar door.
The fifth factory LMP1 entry, the No.2 Porsche, spent a long spell in the garage with a front-axle issue before rejoining some way down the order in 54th.
The super-competitive LMP2 class is led by the No.31 Vaillante Rebellion car, five laps off the leading LMP1 car and part of a 1-2-3 for the Oreca 07.
Rebellion’s second car, the No.13, held the runner-up spot after six hours, ahead of the No.38 Jackie Chan DC Racing machine.
In GTE Pro, the No.97 Aston Martin Racing car leads the No.67 Ford GT, with the No.66 Chip Ganassi Ford close behind in third.
GTE Am’s front-running car is the No.98 Aston Martin Racing entry, with the No.84 JMW Motorsport Ferrari on the same lap.
Numerous incidents caused slow zones and yellow flags, including an early clash between the pole-sitting LMP2 car – the No.26 G-Drive – and the No.88 Proton Competition Porsche.
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