Ferrari heading for a hat-trick at Le Mans
June 15 (Reuters) - Defending champions Ferrari were heading for a third straight win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, after leading the 93rd edition of the race through the night and into Sunday morning at the Sarthe circuit.
With six hours remaining, the number 51 factory 499P car of 2023 winners Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado led the number 83 AF Corse entry of Robert Kubica, Yifei Yi and Philip Hanson by some six seconds.
The number 50 factory car crewed by last year's winners Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina completed the lockout of the podium places.
Porsche Penske's number six hypercar, which had led at the halfway stage after a safety car period, was fourth and Toyota's number eight car fifth.
With six hours being the regular length of a World Endurance Championship race, and temperatures rising, there was however still plenty of room for late drama.
The number 51 Ferrari had already fought back from eighth place after a puncture, a five second penalty and 20 second stop and go punishment to retake the lead by dawn.
Swiss tennis great Roger Federer had waved the French flag to get the race underway on Saturday afternoon, with Porsche immediately seizing the lead from pole-sitters Cadillac.
Cadillac had swept the front row in Thursday's qualifying but any advantage was short-lived as Porsche Penske's Julien Andlauer slipstreamed into the lead from third on the grid before the first chicane on the opening lap.
"We're trying to hang in there, but it's tough out on track to be honest," said Sebastien Bourdais, who shares the number 38 Cadillac with 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button and was in ninth place.
"We're struggling with tyre degradation. And we're struggling with the balance."
Ferrari worked their way to the front and Fuoco took the lead in the third hour on the run from Mulsanne to Indianapolis with the three Ferraris running 1-2-3 at the quarter distance.
The BMW driven by Italy's MotoGP great Valentino Rossi had to retire in the LMGT3 category.
The race at the circuit in north-west France features 62 cars shared by 186 drivers from 34 countries, and is the fourth round of the World Endurance Championship, with 21 hypercars in the battle for overall victory.
Organisers have put the total weekend attendance at more than 300,000 spectators.
Ferrari will be able to keep the trophy at their Maranello factory if the works team completes a hat-trick on Sunday.
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