The order changed quickly ahead of the 12-hour marker as weather hit Le Sarthe prompting many of the leaders into the pits.

That left the #8 Toyota leading, with Brendon Hartley at the wheel, from the #6 Penske Porsche of Kevin Estre.

The #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry had claimed top spot after the early leader, the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, was penalised for causing a crash on the back straight.

Robert Kubica’s #83 effort has dropped to seventh after making contact with the #15 BMW, for which he was handed a 30-second stop-go penalty.

Kubica was looking to lap Dries Vanthoor at the seventh hour, sending the BMW head-first into the barrier to draw the first full Safety Car of the race, which lasted well over an hour as barriers were repaired.

With the field bunched courtesy of a Safety Car, it dropped the race leader well down the order.

Rain has been a factor, hitting the track heavily around the seventh hour, just as darkness fell. It returned ahead of the 12-hour marker, with the race neutralised as a result.

At the halfway point, the #183 AF Corse effort headed LMP2, and sits 20th outright, while Porsche is in control of LMGT3 with the #92 Manthey PureRxcing heading the Yasser Shahin-driven Manthey EMA Porsche in its wheel tracks in second.

For now, the race remains under yellow, with race control advising the weather will prolong the current Safety Car period.

The leading 11 runners remain on the lead lap, with 173 under the belt of the race leading Toyota.