Toyota No.7 miss out on Hyperpole, as No.12 Cadillac quickest in thrilling opening qualifying for 24 Hours of Le Mans
- Aaron Carroll
- Jun 11
- 4 min read
Written by Aaron Carroll
Qualifying for the 2025 Hours of Le Mans took place at 6:30pm local time on Wednesday, with the session not setting the full grid, but deciding which teams and drivers would take part in Hyperpole on Thursday. The session was split into two, one for LMP2 and LMGT3, and another for the Hypercars.
LMP2 & LMGT3 Qualifying
The first cars to take to the track were the LMP2 and LMGT3 cars, with 30 minutes to set their best lap times. The focus was on the top 12 for this session, with the cars in those positions moving onto the first Hyperpole session tomorrow. Those positioned 13th and down, will line up on the grid in those positions on Sunday.
Traffic management would be crucial for the LMP2 drivers, as catching a LMGT3 car in the wrong place could be detrimental to a flying lap. Right at the start of the first flying lap, both InterEuropol cars caught the No.21 Ferrari in the first sector, slowing both cars.
The No.48 VDS Panis car jumped across the kerbs at the Ford chicanes and ran off the track briefly as the first LMP2 lap times came in. It was the No.29 TDS Racing of Mathias Beche at the top of the times early on.
They were followed by the LMGT3 times, with Ryan Hardwick in the No.92 Manthey Porsche looking quick to start the session. These times certainly wouldn't stand, as tyres got up to temperature and the track rubbered in.
As expected, the times began to tumble, with Theo Pourchaire in the No.25 APR car going to the top of LMP2. The No.81 TF Sport Corvette followed Pourchaire in to go to the top of the GT class.
The race director threw the red flag, for the stricken No.60 Mercedes. Andrew Gilbert experienced a suspected loss in fuel pressure, bringing the silver arrow to a halt. All of the teams took this opportunity to put on a set of new tyres before we went green again.
Cars went back out with 15 minutes to go, all on brand new tyres. Luca Ghiotto in 16th, slowed in the final sector with a puncture with 10 minutes to go. Fortunately for the No.34 team, they were able to get the car back out on a new set of tyres quickly.
With five minutes to go, the No.11, No.9, No.18, No.34 and No.24 were in the drop zone in LMP2. Namely the IDEC Sport No.18 was tipped to be a top contender in the class on Saturday was in danger of not making Hyperpole.
Meanwhile in LMGT3 it was the No.77, No.87, No.57, No.31, No.33, No.10, No.85, No.90, No.150, No.13, No.60 and No.63. All of those cars would stay there, as the No.150 stopped at the first chicane and brought out the red flag with just under four minutes to go, not enough to do an out lap.
Many of the cars knocked out in this first qualifying session were tipped to be contenders for the win, and now will not start in the top 12.
The cars below 12th would start in the orders stated above, for both classes.
Hypercar
The Hypercar session would be run to 30 minutes too, but the difference being there was no slower traffic for the premier Le Mans class. The other big difference being that the top 15 make it into Hyperpole.
All of the cars came out, and took a lap to warm up the tyres and brakes. Then on the next lap, the lap times came flying in, with each sector time showing how close this qualifying session could be.
After the first flying laps the No.83 led from the No.6 and then the two factory Ferraris. In the drop zone was the two Peugeots, the No.007 Aston Martin, the No.12 Cadillac and the No.38 and No.15 who had laps deleted for track limits.
Both Jota Cadillacs, the No.12 and No.38, jumped into the top 15 after the second laps, dropping the No.4 and No.99 into 16th and 17th. Dries Vanthoor in the No.15 had another lap deleted for track limits infringements.
A handful of cars pit just before the halfway mark for a set of new tyres. Strangely too, both of the Peugeots did their first runs on used tyres, maybe explaining why they sat in 18th and 19th.
With nine minutes to go, many of the cars on out laps got caught in the final sector with cars on flying laps. Multiple drivers had to back out of laps that were set to be an improvement.
Meanwhile Jack Aitken in the No.311 went to the top of the times, before Kevin Estre in the No.6 went half a second quicker.
The No.35 Alpine spun in the final sector, almost impeding his teammate Mick Schumacher in the No.36. A tyre puncture caused Paul-Loup Chatin to spin around, as the car sat in 12th.
They would drop to 13th as Dries Vanthoor went half a second quicker than anyone else in the No.15 BMW. With time left for one flying lap it was the No.4, No.009, No.99, No.94, No.007 and No.93. The No.7 Toyota sat in the danger zone in 15th, fourth tenths behind Robin Frijns in 14th.
Alex Lynn just barely went quicker than Vanthoor at the top, as Felipe Nasr and Nyck De Vries can't find any more time on their laps, staying in position. The No.009 improved to 15th, knocking out De Vries in the No.7, as both Peugeots were improving on their laps.
Stoffel Vandoorne in the No.94 improved to only 18th, and Jean-Eric Vergne improved to 19th in the sister No.93. Harry Ticknell in the No.007 couldn't improve either, staying 21st and last. Felipe Nasr in the No.4 improved with a rapid final sector, to go up to 14th.
So the No.009, No.7, No.94, No.93, No.99 and No.007 all missed out on Hyperpole and would start the race in that order. Alex Lynn topped the session in the No.12 Cadillac, by 0.04 seconds.
The No.7, tipped to be a race win contender, not even making the top 15 spots on the grid.
Hyperpole will get underway on Thursday at 8pm local time.
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