The #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid has taken the lead of the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans with four hours to go, after Brendon Hartley jumped the #12 Cadillac of Norman Nato on the restart from a Full Course Yellow.
Hartley climbed aboard the #8 Toyota at its most recent pit stop, and rapidly caught race leader Nato. The Kiwi was directly on the rear of the #12 Cadillac before a FCY was deployed with three hours and 19 minutes to go, and pounced on the approach to the second
The sister #7 Toyota of Nyck de Vries, who changed tyres at his last stop, then passed Nato at Mulsanne Corner, before setting off on pursuit of his teammate.
By the end of the hour, the Dutchman has caught Hartley, with the pair split by 0.9 seconds.
Nato is now 5.5 seconds behind in third, with Sheldon van der Linde’s #20 BMW, the final car within one minute of the lead, a further 14 seocnds back in fourth.
In LMP2, there was heartbreak for the #30 Duqueine Team ORECA, which has been in the leading fight throughout.
Richard Verschoor, who had ceded the class lead to the #343 Inter Europol Competition ORECA of Reshad De Gérus earlier in the hour, pulled off at the exit of the Daytona chicane and triggered the Full Course Yellow, with a front left brake problem.
“My brakes exploded,” Verschoor reported on the team radio.
De Gérus therefore now leads an Inter Europol 1-2, with the Frenchman under one second ahead of the sister #43 ORECA of Nick Yelloly.
The #29 Forestier Racing by Panis ORECA of Oliver Gray has been promoted to third, with the Briton, who is 29 seconds back, catching the pair in front.
The #4 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA is still in control in LMP2 Pro/Am, and now up to seventh in LMP2.
The closest battle in LMP2 Pro/Am is the fight for third, with the #99 AO by TF ORECA of Dane Cameron under 30 seconds ahead of Enzo Trulli’s #25 Algarve Pro Racing entry.
And in LMGT3, the #33 TF Sport Corvette of Jonny Edgar leads at the end of Hour 20, although it has ceded the effective top spot for the first time since establishing its lead overnight.
The Corvette was undercut by the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin of Eduardo Barrichello during a round of pit stops, but the Brazilian gave up the lead by pitting five minutes before the end of the hour.
Edgar also fell behind the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin of Zacharie Robichon at his stop, but the Briton, and the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus of Jack Hawksworth, both fought their way past the Canadian.
