24 Hours of Le Mans – Hyperpole: Sensational Kevin Estre!

The Hyperpole session started late, at 8:35 pm instead of 8 pm. It took a long time to repair the barrier after the huge crash involving an LMP3 in race 1 of the Road to Le Mans. Fortunately, the accident had no consequences for the driver.

This led to a longer concentration time than expected for the eight crews in each category. And tension too, as the sky (meaning the rain) could fall on the heads of the audience at any moment, under very stubborn clouds.

Everyone left without delay for thirty minutes of madness, in a fight for the more exciting Hyperpole than ever. The surprise of the qualifications, the BMW No. 15, was the first on track to try to achieve a new feat, followed by the two Ferraris. The only one missing was the Porsche No. 12 from Jota, still under repairs after its crash from the day before.

Very quickly, the duel was clearly established in Hypercar: it was Ferrari against Cadillac. Sebastien Bourdais snatched the provisional pole from Antonio Fuoco!

Favorites in other categories placed themselves right from the start: Louis Deletraz (AO by TF) temporarily dominated the LMP2 standings. Then, Inception Racing, with McLaren No. 70, took the lead halfway through the session.

Sébastien Bourdais drove the point home in 3:24.816, relegating the first of the two Ferraris, the N°50 driven by the diabolical Antonio Fuoco, to seven tenths. And Paul-Loup Chatin, in this Alpine that impressed at Toyota, set the fourth provisional time.

The McLaren from Inception almost clocked an even faster time, before its driver, Brendan Iribe, went into a spin at the entrance of the pit straight. He managed, with great skill, to avoid the gravel trap.

Qualifying Madness!

Everyone returned to the stands to make a quick “splash”, change tires, and head back out for the final assault. The Cadillac No. 2 remained in the stands for a long time before the team let Alex Lynn back on track.

And then, the disaster: Dries Vanthoor, who had improved his first sector, went off track at the Indianapolis corner, burying his BMW No. 15 in the gravel. That was the end for him, as he caused a red flag. The dreams of pole position were gone.

The stopwatch was stopped at precisely 7:41. We were about to witness an incredible finale, with everyone trying to make their way through. But surprise took over everyone when the international production showed Sébastien Bourdais getting out of the car and being congratulated in his pit.

Ferrari then had a clear path to try to place one, or even two cars on the first row, including pole position. Neither of the Ferraris was able to improve.

Alex Lynn, in the Cadillac No. 2, had secured an incredible provisional pole position at the expense of Bourdais… Then Kevin Estre, coming out of nowhere with the Porsche No. 6, snatched the top spot from Cadillac, preventing it from locking out the front row. The Lyonnais took advantage of a strong draft between Mulsanne and Indianapolis to gain precious time. The Alpine No. 35, driven by Paul-Loup Chatin, finished in 6th place, which is already a great achievement for a new program.

Elsewhere, there was no suspense: Louis Delétraz demolished the competition on a crazy final lap in LMP2, with AO by TF, while Brendan Iribe, in the McLaren Inception No. 70, gave McLaren a pole position for the big return of the British manufacturer in endurance racing.