Everything you need to know ahead of the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans

It’s almost time for endurance racing’s biggest event: The 24 Hours of Le Mans. Held annually for over 100 years, the classic event attracts over 300,000 people to the French city for one of motorsport’s most iconic races.

The race takes place on June 14 and 15 this year, with practice and qualifying taking place across June 11 and 12.

Porsche has taken part since 1951, scoring its maiden class podium that year, before its first overall podium in 1958. The manufacturer took pole for the first time 10 years later, before its first victory in 1970.

Its 19 wins make Porsche the most successful manufacturer around the Circuit de la Sarthe, and the team is gunning for its 20th victory in 2025.

Three Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 will take part in this year’s race, as well as one Porsche 963 fielded by Proton Competition.

Read more about the 963 here.

In LMGT3, Manthey Racing will run three Porsche 911 GT3 R. Check out more details about the car here.

Ahead of this year’s event, here’s a rundown of everything you need to know, from the altered format to the full driver line-ups.

This year’s event: Previewing the action

As ever, this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans is set to be a thrilling test of man and machine.

The pre-race build-up begins on Friday June 6 and Saturday June 7, with the traditional town square scrutineering. Cars and drivers will head to Place de la République in the heart of Le Mans for administrative checks, with crowds gathering to spot their favourite machinery.

Read more about the process here.

Sunday June 8 is the official test day, with two sessions for drivers to familiarise themselves with the track, before the fan-favourite autograph session on Tuesday June 10. The on-track action gets underway on Wednesday June 11 - see below for the full schedule.

The qualifying format has been revamped for this year, bringing even more excitement to fans.

On Wednesday, the LMP2 and LMGT3 entrants will take part in a 30-minute session, with the top 12 in each class advancing to Hyperpole the following day. Next up comes the Hypercar session, with the top 15 going through to Hyperpole.

On Thursday, there will be two sessions – H1 and H2. The top 12 in both LMGT3 and LMP2 will battle for 20 minutes to decide the top eight in each class, which will progress to the 15-minute H2 to set the final grid.

The top 15 Hypercars will compete in H1, with the top 10 moving on to H2 to decide who starts the race at the very front.

Who’s who? The full Porsche driver lineups

#4 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, Pascal Wehrlein

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship reigning champion Felipe Nasr and his full-time teammate Nick Tandy are joined by Formula E world champion Pascal Wehrlein in the third Porsche Penske Motorsport entry.

With Nasr and Tandy having taken three wins out of four so far this season Stateside, and with the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring under their belts, they’ll be gunning for the coveted Triple Crown of endurance racing.

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Julien Andlauer, Michael Christensen, Mathieu Jaminet

Full-season WEC pairing Andlauer and Christensen will once again be joined by IMSA driver Jaminet, who also raced with the pair in Qatar and Imola.

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor

Just like the #5 car, full-time WEC drivers Estre and Vanthoor will be joined by Campbell - usually found alongside Jaminet in IMSA.

Reserve driver: Nico Müller

Müller will serve as the Porsche Penske Motorsport reserve driver for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Currently competing in Formula E with Andretti, Müller became a Porsche factory driver last year.

To prepare for the event, has undertaken extensive testing in the Porsche 963, and took part in the WEC’s 6 Hours of Spa last month alongside Julien Andlauer and Michael Christensen.

#99 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Neel Jani, Nicolás Pino, Nicolás Varrone

The usual #99 Proton Competition line-up takes on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with both Pino and Varrone making their top-class debut at the event.

#85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R: Célia Martin, Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting

Sticking with a tried and tested formula, full-time trio Martin, Frey and Gatting will tackle the Circuit de la Sarthe in the #85 Iron Dames car. Frey and Gatting have taken on the endurance classic together for each of the past six years, while Martin makes her Le Mans debut.

#90 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R: Antares Au, Loek Hartog, Klaus Bachler

Making a special appearance in the Le Mans-only third Manthey entry, Au, Hartog and Bachler will join the fierce fight to top the LMGT3 podium. Au and Hartog will make their 24 Hours of Le Mans debuts, while Bachler previously finished second in 2014.

#92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R: Ryan Hardwick, Riccardo Pera, Richard Lietz

Another full-time trio fighting it out for LMGT3 victory, the Manthey 1st Phorm crew have plenty of experience between them. Lietz is a five-time class winner, including last year, with three additional podiums to his name, while Pera took a podium in 2023.

Looking back: A 2024 recap

Porsche Penske Motorsport narrowly missed out on the overall podium at last year’s race, while Manthey EMA claimed victory in the LMGT3 class.

The #6 car of Estre, André Lotterer and Vanthoor finished just one second behind third place after 24 hours of running at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

After fighting several fierce battles for the lead in the early stages, the #5 car shared by Campbell, Christensen and Frédéric Makowiecki finished sixth overall.

A tough day for the #4 car of Jaminet, Nasr and Tandy saw its race end early on Sunday morning after an incident at Indianapolis.

Manthey Racing took a landmark victory in its maiden season in LMGT3, with the #91 Manthey EMA car driven by Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin winning the class.

Read the full race report here.