Kobayashi leads as Alonso begins first stint at Le Mans

Kamui Kobayashi has moved into a healthy lead at the front of the pack three hours into the 24 Hours of Le Mans, leading from Toyota teammate Fernando Alonso.

After Mike Conway managed to pull out 40 seconds at the head of the field in the #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid during his quadruple stint from the start of the race, Kobayashi took over midway through the third hour.

He was able to add to the lead after a Full Course Yellow compromised Alonso - who took over from Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota after his four stints - by hitting at one of the fastest points on the circuit, costing him another 20 seconds to Kobayashi.

The Toyotas are running comfortably clear at the front of the pack, with Rebellion Racing's #3 R13 Gibson sitting third in the hands of Nathanael Berthon, sitting half a minute clear of Stoffel Vandoorne in the #11 SMP Racing entry.

Signatech Alpine Matmut continues to lead LMP2 with the #36 Alpine A470 Gibson after a mammoth opening stint from Nicolas Lapierre, who holds a slender lead over Job van Uitert for G-Drive Racing in the #26 Oreca 07 Gibson. Van Uitert has a 10-second time penalty to serve at his next pit stop after a Full Course Yellow infringement by Jean-Eric Vergne at the end of his opening stint.

Corvette managed to retain its advantage in GTE-Pro despite being forced into an extra splash-and-dash pit stop under a Full Course Yellow during the third hour, with Jan Magnussen heading the field in the #63 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. Jonathan Bomarito rose to P2 in class in the #67 Ford GT after Patrick Pilet was hit with a penalty FCY procedure, causing him to drop to third in the #93 Porsche 911 RSR.

Julien Andlauer leads for Dempsey-Proton Racing in the #77 Porsche in GTE-Am, sitting 12 seconds clear of Team Project 1's #56 Porsche with three hours of the race down.