LeMans Hour 1: Porsche leads Audi

Timo Bernhard

Timo Bernhard has led the entirety of the opening hour for the 83rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the red No. 17 Porsche 919 Hybrid, although the race just went under its first safety car right at the one-hour mark for an incident involving three cars at the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight.

Jonny Kane, in the No. 42 Strakka Racing Dome S103 Nissan, appeared to collect Patrick Pilet, in the No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR going into the chicane, while the No. 13 Rebellion R-One AER of Alexandre Imperatori was also collected and sent into the gravel trap.

From the start, Bernhard took the lead from polesitter Neel Jani just before the first chicane on the opening lap, and maintained roughly a two-second gap over the second of three Porsche 919 Hybrids from until the first round of pit stops.

The three Audi R18 e-tron quattros got ahead of the third Porsche, with Loic Duval up to third at the end of the opening lap and the other cars following suit shortly thereafter.

Hour 1 Standings