Written by Owen Bradley
Porsche #6 have surprised everyone, disrupting the Cadillac's to take a historic pole position for the 92nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Hypercar
In Qualifying on Wednesday night, the #15 BMW Hypercar would shock everyone, by setting a provisional pole lap in the mid 3:24.000's. They would be quickly followed by the #3 Cadillac driven by the home hero, Sebastien Bourdais, who was just a couple of tenths behind.
The #50 Ferrari Hypercar team would also sit a couple of tenths from provisional pole, the previous year's polesitters looking to take back-to-back Ferrari Le Mans victories after the #51 team won last year.
Alpine would surprise many, by having both cars inside the Top 10, the #35 Alpine even making it into Hyperpole on Thursday. The #36 Alpine, driven by Mick Schumacher, would climb to ninth place, only just missing out on a Hyperpole appearance by a couple of tenths. A much more positive performance from Alpine, who have struggled somewhat throughout the WEC season so far.
The #2 Cadillac would round out the Top 5, Cadillac appear to be an ominous and fierce manufacturer to compete with at the 92nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours. Rounding out the positions for Hyperpole, would be the 2023 Le Mans winners, the #51 Ferrari, the #6 Porsche of Estre, Lotterer and Vanthoor and finally, the #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche. However, heartbreakingly for the Porsche squad, Callum Ilott would crash in FP2, meaning that the team could not compete in Hyperpole, resigning them to start from eighth, still a strong performance.
Toyota would have a difficult Qualifying session, with both cars outside the Top 10. The #7 Toyota would spin out on their final flying lap, having all their lap times deleted and now starting from the back of the Hypercar grid. The #8 Toyota team wouldn't fare much better, starting from eleventh place and nearly a full second behind the fastest time.
The #83 Ferrari that Robert Kubica is driving this weekend starts from 12th, with Kubica, Yifei and Schwartzman unable to find the same grip that the other Ferrari's had. The top Lamborghini would set a lap time good enough for 13th on the grid, a solid performance on their debut, with team members staying realistic, aiming for a top 10 finish on Sunday.
Hyperpole
The Cadillac's would impress early on, with the #3 Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais setting a lap to provisional pole, as the Frenchman got out of the car and went to his family and the team. The sister #2 Cadillac of Alex Lynn had initially lined up on the front row as well, but something unexpected was about to happen.
The #15 BMW Hypercar would understeer wide at the start of the final sector, hitting the outside barrier and stopping in the gravel trap, bringing out a red flag with just seven and a half minutes remaining. They would have their laps deleted and start from eighth position.
With each lap taking a few minutes, it was practically a sprint to the chequered flag and a rush to get as many laps completed. Lynn's #2 Cadillac would steal provisional pole position from their sister #3 car, who didn't go back out for another run. Lynn was around four tenths down in the middle sector and delivered an exceptional final sector to take provisional pole, before another twist in the tail.
Kevin Estre would come through to take pole position for the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours aboard his #6 Porsche Hypercar, taking pole by around one and a half tenths of a second. A truly dramatic Qualifying session, which sees the Cadillac's disrupted by a lonely Porsche at the front.
The #51 and #50 Ferrari's rounded out the Top 5, a solid distance behind, with the #51 about half a second from pole, and the #50 Ferrari a full second behind. Finally, the #35 Alpine starts from sixth on the grid, a welcome surprise for the home manufacturer.
Hypercar Qualifying - Top 10
1st #6 Porsche
2nd #2 Cadillac
3rd #3 Cadillac
4th #51 Ferrari
5th #50 Ferrari
6th #35 Alpine
7th #12 Jota Porsche
8th #15 BMW
9th #36 Alpine
10th #5 Porsche
LMP2 Qualifying and Hyperpole
It was a popular pole position in LMP2, with Louis Deletraz taking pole position for the #14 AO by TF Team who are running their dinosaur livery named "Spike". Alongside them, a decent half a second behind, was the #28 Idec Sport car driven by Job Van Uitert. Rounding out the podium places, would be the #65 Panis Racing team, driven by Mathias Beche.
Ben Hanley would drive the #23 United Autosport team to fourth, less than a tenth clear from teammates #22 United Autosports in fifth, driven by Oliver Jarvis.
LMP2 Starting Grid - Top 10
1st #14 AO by TF
2nd #28 Idec Sport
3rd #65 Panis Racing
4th #23 United Autosport USA
5th #22 United Autosports
6th #37 Cool Racing
7th #33 DKR Engineering
8th #10 Vector Sport
9th #183 AF Corse
10th #24 Nielson Racing
LMPGT3 Qualifying and Hyperpole
There are closer eyes watching LMGT3 this weekend, with MotoGP Legend, Valentino Rossi, making his Le Mans debut. Rossi and teammates Maxime Martin and Ahmad Al-Harthy would manage to qualify in 12th place, a relatively disappointing result as the BMW #46 team will look to have a strong performance. They currently sit inside the Top 5 in the overall WEC standings, and will look for a big result.
However, it was the #70 McLaren team who were around seven tenths ahead of the rest of the LMGT3 field, with the team unfortunately spinning out towards the end of one of their incredibly quick laps. However, with pole position by a sizable margin, Inception Racing #70 McLaren look poised to take a historic victory in the LMGT3 class on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Manthey Purerxcing #92 would qualify in second, fractionally ahead of the JMW Motorsport #66 Ferrari. The top Ford Mustang #77 would sit in fourth, looking to take a potential podium, as the Heart of Racing #27 Aston Martin rounded out the Top 5.
LMGT3 Starting Grid - Top 12
1st #70 Inception Racing
2nd #92 Manthey Purerxcing
3rd #66 JMW Motorsport
4th #77 Proton Competition
5th #27 Heart of Racing
6th #777 D'Station Racing
7th #82 TF Sport
8th #60 Iron Lynx
9th #85 Iron Dames
10th #87 Akkodis ASP Team
11th #59 United Autosports
12th #46 Team WRT (VR46)
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