The 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans officially came to life today with the first round of qualifying: a session where every team aimed to secure a spot in the ultimate battle for pole position: the Hyperpole. Text: Luca W. © Images: 24h-lemans ©
The qualifying session acts as a filter: only the top 12 cars in LMP2 and LMGT3, and the top 15 in Hypercar, earn the right to fight for the front rows during Thursday’s Hyperpole.
Le Mans 24 Hours qualifying: Hypercar results
The Hypercar qualifying session offered a mix sentiments and pace. While some teams may have held back their true performance, choosing only to do the minimum needed to make the cut, others pushed to get on front.
Cadillac surprised the field by securing the fastest lap, confirming its growing competitiveness around the Circuit de la Sarthe. In contrast, Peugeot struggled once again, finishing nearly three seconds off the pace. An underwhelming showing for a factory team. Driver Loïc Duval hinted at a potentially unfavourable Balance of Performance (without directly mentioning it, of course) as one explanation for the disappointing pace.
Toyota also had a difficult session, particularly the #7 car of Nyck De Vries, which failed to qualify for the Hyperpole with only the 16th best time.
On the brighter side, BMW and Cadillac both showed promising pace, momentum they’ll hope to carry into Thursday’s Hyperpole session, scheduled for 21:05. However, it would be unwise to forget Porsche.
| P | # | Team / Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap |
| 1 | 12 | Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA A. Lynn | Cadillac V-Series.R | 3:22.847 | – |
| 2 | 15 | BMW M Team WRT D. Vanthoor | BMW M Hybrid V8 | 3:22.887 | 00.040 |
| 3 | 51 | Ferrari AF Corse A. Giovinazzi | Ferrari 499P | 3:23.163 | 00.316 |
K. Estre | DSQ | ||||
| 4 | 38 | Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA S. Bourdais | Cadillac V-Series.R | 3:23.467 | 00.620 |
| 5 | 50 | Ferrari AF Corse A. Fuoco | Ferrari 499P | 3:23.514 | 00.667 |
| 6 | 5 | Porsche Penske Motorsport J. Andlauer | Porsche 963 | 3:23.544 | 00.697 |
| 7 | 20 | BMW M Team WRT R. Frijns | BMW M Hybrid V8 | 3:23.805 | 00.958 |
| 8 | 311 | Cadillac Whelen J. Aitken | Cadillac V-Series.R | 3:23.890 | 01.043 |
| 9 | 36 | Alpine Endurance Team M. Schumacher | Alpine A424 | 3:23.945 | 01.098 |
| 10 | 8 | Toyota Gazoo Racing B. Hartley | Toyota GR010 – Hybrid | 3:23.988 | 01.141 |
| 11 | 83 | AF Corse R. Kubica | Ferrari 499P | 3:23.994 | 01.147 |
| 12 | 101 | Cadillac WTR F. Albuquerque | Cadillac V-Series.R | 3:24.030 | 01.183 |
| 13 | 4 | Porsche Penske Motorsport F. Nasr | Porsche 963 | 3:24.584 | 01.737 |
| 14 | 35 | Alpine Endurance Team P. Chatin | Alpine A424 | 3:24.667 | 01.820 |
| 15 | 009 | Aston Martin Thor Team | Aston Martin Valkyrie | – | – |
Le Mans 24 Hours qualifying: LMP2 results
With the LMP2 field running identical Oreca 07 prototypes, the difference came down to execution. Setup, teamwork, and driver consistency proved decisive.
AO by TF topped the timesheets, ahead of United Autosports, while Inter Europol, the 2023 class winner, ended the session 1.486 seconds behind.
| P | # | Team / Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 199 | AO by TF / L. Delétraz | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:35.472 | – |
| 2 | 23 | United Autosports / B. Hanley | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:35.657 | 00.185 |
| 3 | 45 | Algarve Pro Racing / A. Quinn | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:35.954 | 00.482 |
| 4 | 29 | TDS Racing / M. Beche | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:36.163 | 00.691 |
| 5 | 22 | United Autosports / P. Fittipaldi | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:36.536 | 01.064 |
| 6 | 48 | VDS Panis Racing / E. Masson | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:36.588 | 01.116 |
| 7 | 25 | Algarve Pro Racing / T. Pourchaire | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:36.612 | 01.140 |
| 8 | 43 | Inter Europol / N. Yelloly | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:36.958 | 01.486 |
| 9 | 28 | IDEC Sport / J. Van Uitert | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:37.004 | 01.532 |
| 10 | 16 | RLR M Sport / P. Pilet | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:37.119 | 01.647 |
| 11 | 183 | AF Corse / M. Vaxiviere | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:37.394 | 01.922 |
| 12 | 37 | CLX – Pure Rxcing / T. Blomqvist | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:37.652 | 02.180 |
Le Mans 24 Hours qualifying: LMGT3 results
The LMGT3 category produced a few surprises. The McLarens of United Autosports and the Iron Dames’ Porsche 911 LMGT3 both underperformed, missing the Hyperpole cut despite high expectations.
Instead, it was Valentino Rossi’s #46 BMW M4 LMGT3 that grabbed the spotlight, posting the fastest time—0.2 seconds ahead of the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR.
| P | # | Team / Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 46 | Team WRT / A. Al Harthy | BMW M4 LMGT3 | 3:56.875 | 21.403 |
| 2 | 27 | Heart of Racing / I. James | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | 3:57.083 | 21.611 |
| 3 | 92 | Manthey 1ST Phorm / R. Hardwick | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 3:57.255 | 21.783 |
| 4 | 78 | Akkodis ASP / A. Robin | Lexus RC F | 3:57.321 | 21.849 |
| 5 | 81 | TF Sport / T. Van Rompuy | Corvette Z06 | 3:57.690 | 22.218 |
| 6 | 88 | Proton Competition / S. Gattuso | Ford Mustang | 3:57.827 | 22.355 |
| 7 | 193 | Ziggo Tempesta / J. Hui | Ferrari 296 | 3:57.960 | 22.488 |
| 8 | 59 | United Autosports / J. Cottingham | McLaren 720S Evo | 3:58.106 | 22.634 |
| 9 | 21 | Vista AF Corse / F. Hériau | Ferrari 296 | 3:58.116 | 22.644 |
| 10 | 54 | Vista AF Corse / T. Flohr | Ferrari 296 | 3:58.632 | 23.160 |
| 11 | 61 | Iron Lynx / M. Berry | Mercedes-AMG | 3:58.732 | 23.260 |
| 12 | 95 | United Autosports / D. Leung | McLaren 720S Evo | 3:58.977 | 23.505 |