2024 BMW Motorsport Hypercar Hyperpole 24h Le Mans

2024 24 Hours of Le Mans qualifying: BMW fastest

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).

Alpine A424 during qualifying

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.

2024 BMW M Team WRT

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#TEAMDRIVERCARBESTGAPS
115BMW M TEAM WRTVANTHOOR DriesBMW M HYBRID V8#15BMW M HYBRID V83:24.465
23CADILLAC RACINGBOURDAIS SébastienCadillac V-Series.R#3Cadillac V-Series.R3:24.6420.177
350FERRARI AF CORSEFUOCO AntonioFerrari 499P#50Ferrari 499P3:24.7310.266
435ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAMCHATIN Paul-LoupAlpine A424#35Alpine A4243:24.8720.407
52CADILLAC RACINGLYNN AlexCadillac V-Series.R#2Cadillac V-Series.R3:24.9930.528
651FERRARI AF CORSEPIER GUIDI AlessandroFerrari 499P#51Ferrari 499P3:25.0490.584
76PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORTESTRE KévinPorsche 963#6Porsche 9633:25.0510.586
812HERTZ JOTA TEAMSTEVENS WillPorsche 963#12Porsche 9633:15.1450.680

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.

#37 Cool Racing LMP2 in qualifying

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#TEAMDRIVERCARBESTGAPS
137COOL RACINGJAKOBSEN MaltheOreca 07 - Gibson#37Oreca 07 – Gibson3:32.827
214AO BY TFDELÉTRAZ LouisOreca 07 - Gibson#14Oreca 07 – Gibson3:33.1340.307
323UNITED AUTOSPORTS USAHANLEY BenjaminOreca 07 - Gibson#23Oreca 07 – Gibson3:33.4300.603
465PANIS RACINGBECHE MathiasOreca 07 - Gibson#65Oreca 07 – Gibson3:33.8271.000
528IDEC SPORTVAN UITERT JobOreca 07 - Gibson#28Oreca 07 – Gibson3:34.2151.388
610VECTOR SPORTPILET PatrickOreca 07 - Gibson#10Oreca 07 – Gibson3:34.2621.435
733DKR ENGINEERINGHÖRR LaurentsOreca 07 - Gibson#33Oreca 07 – Gibson3:34.3301.503
822UNITED AUTOSPORTSJARVIS OliverOreca 07 - Gibson#22Oreca 07 – Gibson3:34.4801.653

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.

2024 Ford Mustang LMGT3 in qualifying

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#TEAMDRIVERCARBESTGAPS
177PROTON COMPETITIONBARKER BenjaminFord Mustang LMGT3#77Ford Mustang LMGT33:55.263
270INCEPTION RACINGSCHANDORFF FrederikMcLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo#70McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo3:55.4060.143
382TF SPORTJUNCADELLA DanielCorvette Z06 LMGT3.R#82Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R3:56.1050.842
460IRON LYNXPERERA FranckLamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2#60Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo23:56.1530.890
592MANTHEY PURERXCINGBACHLER KlausPorsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3#92Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT33:56.1890.926
627HEART OF RACING TEAMRIBERAS AlexAston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3#27Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT33:56.2430.980
766JMW MOTORSPORTTEN VOORDE LarryFerrari 296 LMGT3#66Ferrari 296 LMGT33:56.4431.180
8777D’STATION RACINGSØRENSEN MarcoAston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3#777Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT33:56.5001.237

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.

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Luca

Living the automotive way

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