Nick Tandy was at the head of the field aboard the #75 Porsche 963 as the race reached quarter-distance, 1.7s ahead of the #51 Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, shortly before making a pitstop.
Following the safety car intervention that lasted one hour 25 minutes, the strategies in the Hypercar class diverged, as a number of cars failed to switch back to slicks on the drying track before the pits were closed ahead of the restart.
Among this group were the Toyota GR010 HYBRIDs, which appeared to be preparing to come in before the wave-by and drop-back procedures began.
That meant both the #8 car of Brendon Hartley and the #7 car of Jose Maria Lopez had to make their stops as the race resumed, along with the #6 Porsche 963 of Kevin Estre.
Peugeot led the way a …