LM24, Hour 11: Battle for first rages on between Cadillac and Toyota; No.343 ORECA leads LMP2

We’re now almost at the halfway mark of the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours, and the Cadillac vs. Toyota battle at the head of the Hypercar field is raging on. Jack Aitken is in the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R and pulling away from the chasing pack. The Cadillac has been extremely fast on the soft tires and continues to be the car to have in this race in both the heat of the day and cold of the night.

Aitken’s charge has opened up a gap of 25 seconds over Brendon Hartley, who broke up the Cadillac 1-2 from the previous hour with a daring move at Indianapolis to get second off the No. 12 driven by stand-in Louis Deletraz.

The No. 20 BMW is still in the hunt but now 45 seconds adrift, without the tools to fight overnight, even after switching to the soft Michelins.

There are now 11 cars on the lead lap in Hypercar. It’s going to be a long second half to the race for Aston Martin and Peugeot in particular, as neither brand has a car truly in the hunt.

In LMP2, Nico Muller’s pace has given Inter Europol and its No. 343 ORECA (pictured above) the true class lead by 11 seconds over Duqueine Team’s entry, which has Doriane Pin back aboard. Ryan Cullen is in Vector’s Gibson-powered prototype, running third but minutes behind.

At the bottom of the pile, DKR Engineering’s fightback has been underway for several hours now, since the car’s trip to the garage early in the race. It is now back ahead of all the LMGT3 runners and 37th overall, though 13 laps off the class lead. It has made the timing screen a much neater read, though!

In LMGT3, as the pit strategies continue to fluctuate, it’s Akkodis ASP back in formation, with Jack Hawksworth in the No. 78 leading Jose Maria Lopez in the No. 87. TF Sport’s No. 33 Corvette is third and should be considered a serious contender now, as Ben Keating, the car’s Bronze, has completed all his drive time, an impressive feat so early when his injury recovery is considered. It's up to Jonny Edgar and Nicky Catsburg to double-team the second half.

TF Sport’s other full-season WEC car is also in the mix, sixth behind the No. 27 Heart of Racing Vantage and No. 75 Kessel Ferrari.

HOUR 11 STANDINGS