After setting the best lap time in Sunday’s free practice, Porsche was currently the favorite to claim the crown at the Sarthe round. Prior to the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans qualifying, Porsche leads the pack with Toyota not far behind, and Ferrari keeping its strategies under wraps. Text: Luca W. © Images: 24hlemans
The qualifying session determines the starting order, but the 8 fastest cars in each category will battle for pole position in the Hyperpole event. This thrilling showdown is set for tomorrow, June 13th, at 18:00 CEST.
A relatively calm Free Practice session
The afternoon Free Practice 1 session provided teams with the opportunity to fine-tune their setups for qualifying, though some encountered difficulties. Habsburg’s #35 Alpine A424 faced electrical reliability issues, briefly stopping under the Dunlop chicane. Despite this, the team managed to continue refining their setup throughout the three-hour session, surprisingly setting the fastest second sector with an impressive average straight-line speed of 339.7 kph (211 mph).
The second red flag of the session was unexpected, caused by Alex Lynn’s #2 Cadillac crashing softly into the Tertres Rouges barrier. Likely being too aggressive on the curb, the car from Detroit accumulated a significant amount of energy, destabilizing and surprising its driver by going the other way around.
The 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans qualifying: top 8 heading to Hyperpole
Hypercar
In a surprising turn of events, Cadillac’s high drag car, which recorded the lowest straight-line speed of 331.5 kph (205.8 mph), set the fastest lap of the first half of today’s qualifying session with a time of 3:24.642. This impressive lap, achieved on medium tires, suggested that teams using the soft tire might consider switching to the harder compound, which performs better at higher temperatures. We will likely see the white-sided tires in the Hyperpole session, starting two hours later on Thursday, 13th June.
25 minutes later, the competition intensified. Dries Vanthoor’s #15 BMW M Team WRT set the fastest lap at 3:24.465. Meanwhile, Kevin Estre’s #6 Porsche 963 missed the braking point at Mulsanne, causing the car to spin until it reached the roundabout.
Both the #7 and #8 Toyota GR010 cars were on track to secure the top two spots. However, Kamui Kobayashi’s mishap in the Porsche curves triggered red flags, halting the qualifying session. Just like #2 Cadillac, the curbs took over the Toyota stability. With only 2 minutes and 27 seconds left on the stopwatch, it was futile to restart the session, as the in-lap takes a minimum of 3:30 minutes. Because it trigerred the red flag, the whole #7 Toyota lap times were canceled, and the car will start at the back of the hypercar field.
Cadillac and Ferrari maximized their session performance, becoming the only manufacturers with two cars qualifying for Hyperpole. Additionally, the presence of one BMW and one Alpine among the Hyperpole qualifiers demonstrates that newcomers can still compete at high levels.
| POS | # | TEAM | DRIVER | CAR | BEST | GAPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | BMW M TEAM WRT | VANTHOOR Dries |  | BMW M HYBRID V8 | 3:24.465 | – |
| 2 | 3 | CADILLAC RACING | BOURDAIS Sébastien |  | Cadillac V-Series.R | 3:24.642 | 0.177 |
| 3 | 50 | FERRARI AF CORSE | FUOCO Antonio |  | Ferrari 499P | 3:24.731 | 0.266 |
| 4 | 35 | ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM | CHATIN Paul-Loup |  | Alpine A424 | 3:24.872 | 0.407 |
| 5 | 2 | CADILLAC RACING | LYNN Alex |  | Cadillac V-Series.R | 3:24.993 | 0.528 |
| 6 | 51 | FERRARI AF CORSE | PIER GUIDI Alessandro |  | Ferrari 499P | 3:25.049 | 0.584 |
| 7 | 6 | PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT | ESTRE Kévin |  | Porsche 963 | 3:25.051 | 0.586 |
| 8 | 12 | HERTZ JOTA TEAM | STEVENS Will |  | Porsche 963 | 3:15.145 | 0.680 |
LMP2
The LMP2 category saw a closely fought battle, given that all the cars are identical in specifications. The top 3 cars set lap times within the same second, highlighting the intense competition in this class.
As qualifying progresses, it’s clear that even the smallest margins can make a significant difference, setting the stage for an exciting Hyperpole session.
| POS | # | TEAM | DRIVER | CAR | BEST | GAPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 37 | COOL RACING | JAKOBSEN Malthe |  | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:32.827 | – |
| 2 | 14 | AO BY TF | DELÉTRAZ Louis |  | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:33.134 | 0.307 |
| 3 | 23 | UNITED AUTOSPORTS USA | HANLEY Benjamin |  | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:33.430 | 0.603 |
| 4 | 65 | PANIS RACING | BECHE Mathias |  | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:33.827 | 1.000 |
| 5 | 28 | IDEC SPORT | VAN UITERT Job |  | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:34.215 | 1.388 |
| 6 | 10 | VECTOR SPORT | PILET Patrick |  | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:34.262 | 1.435 |
| 7 | 33 | DKR ENGINEERING | HÖRR Laurents |  | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:34.330 | 1.503 |
| 8 | 22 | UNITED AUTOSPORTS | JARVIS Oliver |  | Oreca 07 – Gibson | 3:34.480 | 1.653 |
LMGT3
In the GT3 category, the competition was fierce between the two strongest teams, Proton Competition and Inception Racing. Their back-and-forth battle left the rest of the field trailing by 0.890 seconds. The German team Proton Competition, led the pack with their Ford Mustang LMGT3, setting the fastest lap of the category in 3:55.263.
They were closely followed by Inception Racing’s McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, just 0.143 seconds behind. Unfortunately, the Iron Dames team fell short, finishing in 9th position and missing out on Hyperpole.
| POS | # | TEAM | DRIVER | CAR | BEST | GAPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 | PROTON COMPETITION | BARKER Benjamin |  | Ford Mustang LMGT3 | 3:55.263 | – |
| 2 | 70 | INCEPTION RACING | SCHANDORFF Frederik |  | McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo | 3:55.406 | 0.143 |
| 3 | 82 | TF SPORT | JUNCADELLA Daniel |  | Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R | 3:56.105 | 0.842 |
| 4 | 60 | IRON LYNX | PERERA Franck |  | Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2 | 3:56.153 | 0.890 |
| 5 | 92 | MANTHEY PURERXCING | BACHLER Klaus |  | Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 | 3:56.189 | 0.926 |
| 6 | 27 | HEART OF RACING TEAM | RIBERAS Alex |  | Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 | 3:56.243 | 0.980 |
| 7 | 66 | JMW MOTORSPORT | TEN VOORDE Larry |  | Ferrari 296 LMGT3 | 3:56.443 | 1.180 |
| 8 | 777 | D’STATION RACING | SØRENSEN Marco |  | Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 | 3:56.500 | 1.237 |
On our way to the Hyperpole
The best 24 cars out of 62 will tomorrow at 4 PM CEST, take the ultimate fight for the top spot for the race. The Hyperpole session truly emphasizes the quest for performance. With only one designated driver, individual talent is highlighted.
Practically speaking, the Hyperpole session secures a top position on the grid. This is vital because, with 23 hypercars approaching the first corner, jostling for position will be intense. Starting at the front helps to minimize the risk of potential contacts and sets the stage for a strong start in the 24 hour long race.