24 Hours of Le Mans: BMW in the lead at the start

The 94th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is open - and as every year, the classic race on the French Sarthe will put on a great show. It all started in the run-up to the race when the national anthem was sung, the French flag was delivered in style and cycling legend Mark Cavendish waved it to open the race.

However, the BMW, which had started from pole position with Kevin Magnussen at the wheel, immediately suffered a setback. Even before the first corner, the Dane dropped back to third position - before the first pit stop phase, the pole car was even relegated to seventh position. Nevertheless, there was good news for BMW.

René Rast in the second M Hybrid V8 took the lead on the first lap and extended it to over six seconds in the first stint. Will Stevens took second place in the Cadillac V-Series.R. Cadillac was in a strong position overall at the start of Le Mans, as the other two V-Series.R cars were also in the top five. Filipe Albuquerque in P4 and Earl Bamber in fifth position.

Between them, the Alpine A424 of Ferdinand Habsburg took third place. Ferrari should not be underestimated either. Antonio Giovinazzi and Nicklas Nielsen fought their way up to sixth and eighth in the two works 499Ps.

Position before the first pit stops