Kamui Kobayashi has wrestled the lead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans back from ඣSebastien Buemi at the halfway stage as the fight between the Toyotas intensifies.

After the #8 Toyota grabbed th🍸e leap during the opport🅺unistic Safety Car period, another super stint by Mike Conway before pitting to hand over to Kobayashi saw the Japanese driver return to the track half a second ahead of Buemi.

At the halfway stage the pair were runnin🌳g nose-to-tail having traded stints at the front throughout the ra🦂ce in a battle which looks set to rage on over the final 12 hours.

Behind the runaway leaders, the #17 SMP Racing suffered heartbreak as Egor Orudzhev crashed out at the𝓀 Karting curve running in third place which instantly ended his car’s charge.

That promoted the #3 Rebellion Racing to the last provisional podium place, two laps down on the Toyotas, with Stoffel Vandoo💦rne in the #11 SMP Racing sticking on the same lap in fourth place.

Three laps back the #1 Rebellion Racing conti𒁃nues its fightback after dropping down the order ear🦄ly on with mechanical trouble.

In LMP2, the #26 G-Drive Aurus has pulled out🧸 a useful half-lap gap on the chasing #36 Signatech Alpine having made its advantage count ♓during a Safety Car period when the #49 ARC Bratislava Ligier suffered three offs in a single lap at Mulsanne corner, Indianapolis and then Porsche curves which ended its race.

In GTE Pro, the #92 Porsche continues toꦛ hold a slender lead over the #51 AF Corse Ferrari following the latest Safety Car shake-up. The #91 Porsche is⛄ in third place directly ahead of the #93 Porsche who have both dropped back by two minutes due to the Safety Cars splitting up the pack.

In GTE Am, #85 Keating Motorsports Fꦗord♐ continues to lead from the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche.