At the stroke of the third hour of the race, the Ferraris are doing well in the LMGTE Pro class, with a steady grip on the leading positions.
After taking the race lead when Calado skilfully passed the Porsche which had started from pole, the Prancing Horse cars slightly diversified their strategies with Rigon in no. 71 anticipating the stop by changing tyres during a slow-zone phase. The time gained over the car’s rivals allowed Molina, who took over from the Italian, to move into second place at the end of the first hour. In the LMGTE Am class, after spinning out and losing positions, AF Corse no. 54 replaced Luzich Racing's car in the role of best Ferrari, but then was forced to pit for a long stop. The MR Racing car suffered the same fate due to a control unit problem. The 488 GTE of Spirit of Race, started the second hour in fourth, ahead of the other three Ferraris of Iron Lynx, HubAuto Racing and AF Corse no. 83. At the same time, no. 71 led the LMGTE Pro class, with twin car no. 51 third. The Ferraris of WeatherTech Racing and Risi Competizione were in sixth and eighth. In a fast first phase of the race marked by some lovely duels between Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin, the third hour opened with the two Ferraris of AF Corse eight and ten seconds behind the Aston Martin no. 97 at the top of the LMGTE Pro classification. HubAuto Racing was third in the LMGTE Am class.