•    Action-packed first six hours of Michelin 12H PAUL RICARD sets-up thrilling Sunday
•    Series of late fuel stops give Proton Competition and HOFOR Racing overnight lead 
•    No fewer than six other entries vying for Rd3 success when battle resumes
•    Mühlner Motorsport leads 992, Chazel Technologie Course heading 992-AM
•    Second half of round three of season starts at 11.30 local time on Sunday

Paul Ricard, France (6 June 2026):
Proton Competition’s Manuel Lauck, Joel Sturm, Constantin Dressler and Jorg Dreisow lead the Michelin 12H PAUL RICARD at the halfway point this evening, following an action-packed six hours of racing today at the warm and sunny Le Castellet track.

Joining the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) EVO on the lead lap going into the overnight break is HOFOR Racing’s GT3-AM class Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Maximilian Partl, Torsten Kratz, Alexander Prinz and Michael Kroll. 

GetSpeed Team PCX Racing had largely controlled proceedings from the get-go, Maro Engel serenely taking charge from pole position in the squad’s No.28 Mercedes-AMG, but into the final 15 minutes of part one differing strategies came into play. 

Lauck in the Porsche stayed out as Jordan Boisson in the GetSpeed car, Partl in the HOFOR machine and Ryan Dalziel in the Era Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO all made late pit-visits for fuel, negating the need for an early stop tomorrow. Only part two on Sunday will determine the best decision.

Starting the concluding six hours one lap down will be the GetSpeed Team JR286 Mercedes-AMG of Adam Osieka, Steve Jans, Tanner Harvey and Patrick Liddy, the sister Team PCX entry of Engel, Boisson, Patrick Charlaix and Benjamin Paque, and the Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II of Vasily Vladykin, Alex Aka, Paul Scheuschner and Miguel Maria Garcia. 

E2P Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO, shared by Oliver Campos, Antonio Sainero and Pablo Burguera, Juta Racing’s No.71 Audi of Arunas Geciauskas, Nicola Michelon and Zois Skrimpias and the Ferrari of Dalziel, Jake Hill, Oliver Bryant and Dwight Merriman are also a lap down.

Lights went out at 11.45 local time and pole-qualifier Engel led away comfortably at the rolling start, as fellow front-row qualifier Kobe de Breucker was pressured by Sainteloc Junior Team’s Elia Erhart, the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II passing the Ajith RedAnt Racing Mercedes-AMG into Virage de L’Hotel.

Dressler in the Proton Porsche was edged wide into turn one, enabling Steven Palette to successfully attack in the No.2 HAAS RT Audi, while Hill produced a rapid start at the wheel of Era’s new Ferrari charging from eighth on the grid into the top five within a couple of corners. 

As Engel calmly built his lead, Hill continued his fantastic progression and on lap 13 the Ferrari was into the podium places. After little more than half an hour Hill had closed onto the tail of Erhart’s Audi and, following a great battle, the Ferrari took second on lap 19 at the Mistral chicane. 

Engel serenely continued at the front and eventually made his first pit visit after 75 minutes of racing with a lead of almost 18 seconds. Hill, Erhart and de Breucker all followed suit and after the initial stops Dressler, staying at the wheel of the Porsche during his pit visit, took the lead from Paque who was now in the No.28 GetSpeed Mercedes.

Before the two-hour mark Paque headed a GetSpeed one-two, with Jans in the No.286 car leading GT3-AM, and at the next stops Boisson took over the No.28 car. Following a brief Code 60, to enable debris to be cleared from the track, Boisson led from the Sainteloc Audi of Stephane Tribaudini with Harvey third in the No.286.

During the latter stages of Saturday’s action through the pit-stop cycles, GetSpeed Team PCX returned to the lead with one hour to go with Boisson back at the wheel. Notably, Partl held second overall and had taken the GT3-AM lead for HOFOR, the team having quietly yet impressively risen through the order, and Osieka held third. 

Partl closed right onto the tail of Boisson as the clock ticked down to the part one chequered flag and they both headed for pitlane with less than a quarter of an hour to go. Dalziel was third at that point and also made a stop, just managing to get into pitlane before the 10-minute cut-off. 

As a result, Lauck moved into the race lead and had the tantalising prospect of potentially passing Partl before the end to go a full lap ahead. As it turned out, the Porsche was a few seconds away from achieving that and so both cars will start Sunday with a lap advantage over the rest. 

Pole starting Rik Breukers didn’t enjoy the best of starts after being crowded out down to fourth in 992 in the Red Camel-Jordans.nl Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992 I), as Martin Rump took the lead for Mühlner Motorsport followed by Loic Villiger in the Orchid Racing Team car and Steven Gambrell in the No.928 HRT. 

Normal service was soon resumed for Breukers, the Dutchman swiftly moving back up the order and within 15 minutes of racing he was up to second in class and right with Rump. As the lead 992 pair caught one of the GT3 Audi R8s, Rump went wide and Breukers saw his chance to slice through.

Later in the opening half hour Ghanim Al Ali took the 992-AM lead from Gambrell for the QMMF by HRT Performance squad, but their hopes were hit – literally – a short while after when contact from another 992 car to the left-rear of the No.974 led to damage and a lengthy enforced pit-stop.  

As the hours ticked by, Red Camel solidified their place at the head of 992 with Mühlner clear in second after strong drives from Rump and Conrad Tox Leveau. With two hours to go in part one, Antoni de Barn headed 992-AM in third overall in the No.910 Chazel Technologie Course Porsche. 

Midway through the final hour Rump held a healthy advantage of half a minute over Ivo Breukers, both then making late stops before the pits cut-off with 10 minutes remaining. Rump stayed in the No.921 to take the part one flag 28 seconds clear of the 992-AM class leading No.910 Porsche of Chazel Technologie Course’s Jean-Mathieu Leandri, with Rik Breukers third overnight for Red Camel.

In the single car classes of GTX and GT4, Vortex went about its day in GTX to conclude the opening six hour portion of its ‘home’ race in 27th overall with drivers Phillipe Bonnel, Julien Boillot and Alexandre De Bernardinis. In GT4, Circuit Toys team were 29th overall at the break with Johan de Rouw, Norbert Dekker, Olivier Huez and Hugo Poppe sharing the Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2.

As expected due to its pace, the Not Only Motorsport Ligier JS2 R surged into a dominant early lead in TCE-TCX in the hands of Filippo Tornaghi but on lap two the car slowed. After slipping to second in class behind Pia Ohlsson in the asBest Racing SEAT Leon Cup Racer, the Ligier came to a halt again.

Eventually returning to the pits, the Ligier had been dropping into safe mode and restricted to just 60 km/h as a result of an oil sensor issue linked to running temperature. Sadly issues continued for the team which cost much time and many laps. Even so, by the end of part one Tornaghi and Gino Rocchio were only a single lap shy of Ohlsson, Steven Teirlinck and Rafal Gieras.

Following the overnight break, with all cars held in parc fermé conditions, the second half of this year’s Michelin 12H PAUL RICARD will start at 11.30 local time on Sunday. Live coverage of the action will be streamed online through Creventic Motorsports TV on YouTube – find links for the live stream and live timing at www.24hseries.com