The 89th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours saw a rather eventful first four hours, mainly due to rain. The heavens opened earlier than forecast, at 3:30pm instead of 6pm. This led the race officials to freeze the race – which had set off on time at 4pm with Ferrari President John Elkann sending the cars on their way – for the first two laps.
LMGTE Pro. The start of the race saw the first significant twist with the #72 Porsche that had dominated qualifying in the class spinning out, leaving the way clear for Miguel Molina's Ferrari 488 GTE #52, with James Calado in #51 soon moving up to second. However, the AF Corse drivers decided not to take any risks and didn't put up too much resistance when the two Chevrolet Corvettes attacked. Molina enjoyed a trouble-free first stint. Instead, Calado made a mistake and overshot in the first sector, but all was resolved with only a few seconds lost. As the track dried out, the two Ferraris pulled back on the American cars. Thus, the two 488 GTEs led as the race entered its third hour, with Alessandro Pier Guidi ahead of Daniel Serra. After four hours, the #51 car lies third, followed by its twin #52.
LMGTE Am. This class, which involves eleven Ferraris, saw a relatively harmless collision during the Safety Car period between the Cetilar Racing and Kessel Racing Ferraris, with Ben Barnicoat crashing into Antonio Fuoco. Luckily neither car lost any positions in the contact. The 488 GTE of the Cetilar Racing team starred in the first part until it suffered a puncture. Four hours in, the situation is still very fluid, with five Ferraris vying for top spot. They are the #57 of Car Guy by Kessel Racing, the #47 of Cetilar Racing, the #83 of AF Corse and the #55 of Spirit of Race.