Valentino Rossi out of Le Mans as drama strikes on 11th hour

The #46 BMW Team WRT M4 was parked in its pit garage on the stroke of the 11th hour after an earlier incident.

Sheldon van der Linde was at the wheel of the car in the Porsche Curves when it went straight on and into the gravel.

The team reportedly suffered a technical failure that caused the car to lose power.

That brought out a slow zone while the BMW was recovered.

Van der Linde was able to get the car going and brought it back to the pit lane but lost three laps to the leaders due to repairs.

The car briefly returned to the race before being brought back in with 11 hours and three minutes into the race.

There were dejected faces in the #46 garage as van der Linde went around the room to shake hands with his crew.

Rossi, van der Linde, and Ahmad Al Harthy had led the LMGT3 class earlier in the day and were among the favourites for victory.

Team WRT #46 seems to suffer from a loss of power and is currently being recovered! 😓

Watch live on https://t.co/IPZa0nvsLu 🎥#WEC #LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/zfsfcFu6ei

— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) June 15, 2025

⚠️ Kevin van der Linde went straight on at the Porsche Curves. The #46 @BMWMotorsport is stuck in the gravel — slow zone in place! #LeMans24 #WEC pic.twitter.com/YLm0wzBFmX

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) June 15, 2025

Shortly after their car was taken out of contention, the race had its first Safety Car intervention with 11 hours and 15 minutes run when the Cem Bolukbasi-driven #24 Nielsen Racing entry crashed at Tetre Rouge.

At the end of the 11th hour, the #6 Porsche 963 led overall with a one-minute lead over the #83 Ferrari 499P.

AF Corse opted to pit the #83 under the Safety Car and were held at the end of the pit lane and eventually released behind the #8 Toyota GR010 in third.

Just shy of halfway, there were only four retirements. The #24 Oreca was one of them, joined by the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang, which suffered a big crash at Terte Rouge after a wheel came loose on its 46th lap.

Iron Lynx retired the #60 Mercedes-AMG 57 laps into the race while United Autosports retired its McLaren 720S after 80 laps.

RESULTS: 24 Hours of Le Mans: Hour 11

RESULTS: 24 Hours of Le Mans: Hour 11 (by class)