Le Mans 24 Hours returns with Ferrari chasing four in a row and Genesis making history
Ferrari hunts a fourth straight win and Genesis becomes the first Korean marque in the top class as the 94th running lines up this weekend.
The 94th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans gets under way this weekend at the Circuit de la Sarthe, with a capacity 62-car grid and one of the most competitive top classes in the race's modern history.
The headline battle is at the front of the Hypercar field, where Ferrari arrives chasing a fourth consecutive overall victory after three straight wins since its 2023 return. Standing in its way is a deep roster of rivals: Toyota, which debuts a heavily revised challenger after a winter overhaul, alongside Cadillac, Aston Martin, BMW, Alpine and Peugeot.
The class has reshaped over the off-season. Porsche has withdrawn its factory programme from the World Endurance Championship, trimming the Hypercar entry to 18 cars from last year's record 21, and Action Express Racing has also departed. The most significant arrival offsets those exits: Genesis, Hyundai's luxury marque, becomes the first Korean manufacturer to contest Le Mans's premier category, fielding two GMR-001 cars under its Genesis Magma Racing banner.
Beneath the Hypercars, the grid is rounded out by 19 LMP2 prototypes and a bumper 25-car LMGT3 field spanning nine manufacturers, underlining how healthy sportscar racing's customer market remains even as the prototype ranks consolidate.
For the events business, Le Mans is among the largest annual gatherings in motorsport, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators to the French circuit across race week and anchoring the WEC's commercial calendar. With Alpine signalling this will be its last Le Mans appearance for now before stepping back from the championship, the churn at the top makes the 2026 edition a pivotal one for organiser the Automobile Club de l'Ouest.
Lights go green on Saturday, 13 June.
