The rain held off as racing continued under dark clouds, until the third hour when a downpour hit the Porsche Curves — although the pitlane remained dry.
Standing water sent cars in all directions: the No709 Glickenhaus of Esteban Gutierrez spun, slid across the track and then slewed sideways again, blocking the exit road, just as Lilou Wadoux‘s No83 Ferrari came careering backwards after aquaplaning, swiping the Hypercar and then crashing into the No31 Team WRT LMP2 car of Ferdinand Habsburg.
Scott Dixon was next on the scene in his No3 Cadillac, performing a remarkable 540-degree pirouette and then continuing on as, in the background, the No 86 Porsche spun and hit the barriers.
Chaos at #LeMans24 as the rain comes down! And there’s more to come: https://t.co/55IpHoDSmX
— Motor Sport magazine (@Motor_Sport) June 10, 2023
Most cars switched to wet tyres, but Peugeot switched its No93 car back to slicks early and it was soon stuck in the gravel. But its sister No94 car remained on wets for too long as the track then dried and lost its leading position.
Several other crashes have added to the dramatic first four hours of the race, and further rain followed at night, catching out the No51 Ferrari Hypercar amonjg others.
However, forecasts of thunder and rain throughout the night proved to be wide of the mark and blue skies greeted drivers on Sunday morning.