Predictions of a titanic battle in the 83rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans have proven to be accurate. The fight at the front between German giants Porsche and Audi has delivered all of the drama that was anticipated.

Porsche drivers used the prodigious power of the 919 Hybrid to take charge as the No. 17 and No. 18 prototypes ran one-two at the conclusion of the first hour. But Andre Lotterer crashed the Porsche party in the No. 7 Audi, audaciously passing two Porsches at the end of the grandstand straight to take the overall lead halfway through the second hour.

On the 36th lap, the No. 7 Audi set a race lap record at 3:18.865, eclipsing the previous mark at 3:19.074 set by Loic Duval in a Peugeot in 2010. Audi elation quickly turned to disappointment, however, when a slow puncture compelled the race-leading Audi R18 e-tron Quattro to make an unscheduled pit stop.

Order was restored as the No. 17 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Brendon Hartley led at the 3-hour mark, when the pace was slowed by the race’s second safety car period.

The safety car intervention was triggered by Loic Duval in the No. 8 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro who came upon a group of GT cars slowing under yellow going into the Indianapolis curve. Contact cost the Audi its front end, and Duval limped the car back to the pits where the ace Audi mechanics quickly installed new bodywork.

After three hours, the No. 97 Aston Martin driven by Stefan Mucke led the hard-fought GTE Pro class over the No. 71 Ferrari of Davide Rigon and the No. 64 Corvette C7.R driven by Tommy Milner. At one point the GTE Pro cars raced three-wide through the fastest segments of the circuit in a breathtaking display of high-speed driving.

The No. 53 SRT Viper GTS-R gave American fans something to cheer about as Jeroen Bleekemolen put the brawny V10 in the lead in the GTE Am class in the third hour. Other American teams were not faring as well, with the Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier Hondas 12th and 17th and the Krohn Racing Ligier Judd 16th in the crowded LMP2 class.

With 21 more hours of racing to go, this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans has already established itself as an epic event.