24 Hours of Le Mans – Free practice 4:
At the end of a calm and rainy session towards the end, the Toyota No. 8 took the lead over the competition in the Le Mans night. United Autosport finished at the top of the LMP2, while the Akkodis team saw the Lexus No. 87 finish at the top of the timesheet in LMGT3.
After the joy or disappointment of the qualifications (depending on how you feel about it), the FP4 sessions were the ultimate night time test before the 92nd running of the Le Mans classic. Most of the qualifying drivers handed over to those who will be driving in the dark. This is often where race incidents occur, with fatigue and disrupted natural rhythm.
Dries Vanthoor quickly tried to erase his mistake from the Hyperpole, setting the fastest overall time (3:29.640). The track was declared wet until further notice, even though the rain shower in question was very light.
Alpine No. 36, after Toyota No. 8, took the second provisional time (3:30.071), in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre, who was actively preparing the race pace.
The quarter-hour of the session had just passed when Sheldon Van der Linde, in the BMW No. 20, set the fastest time ahead of the sister car. The Bavarian team, under the watchful eyes of a surely disappointed Vincent Vosse, was then leading ahead of the Alpine Blues, with car No. 35 (Charles Milesi) followed by car No. 36 (Nicolas Lapierre).
On the LMP2 side, United Autosport finally managed to show up: both #23 and #22 were leading with 20 minutes to go, before Nielsen Racing (#24) came between them.
Eric Masson, in the first third of the session, had taken the Akkodis team’s Lexus N°87 to the top of the LMGT3. No doubt the RC F GT3 has a good pace in nighttime conditions. The Proton Competition’s Ford Mustang N°77 was following at a relatively short distance (five tenths).
The ranking of the Hypercar, on the other hand, was restless. The Toyota No. 8 of Brendon Hartley improved by a tenth (3:29.451) compared to the BMW No. 20. And the Peugeot No. 93 of Mikkel Jensen followed, just behind the first Toyota. Miguel Molina, in the Ferrari No. 50, came to show his face, with a 3:25.527 placing him second.
A calm session
These last free practice sessions are not carried out at breakneck speed, even if the displayed timings give a certain tendency of what the rhythms will be in the long relays. This last hour of the session has thus been very calm and studious on both sides.
The Iron Dames, in the Lamborghini Huracan No. 85, took a gravel excursion at the Dunlop chicane, while Sarah Bovy was still in 10th place in the LMGT3. The rain became more present, without turning the track into an ice rink. But the time gaps remained unchanged until the end.
Porsche No. 6, which will start on pole on Saturday, went straight at the Michelin chicane, without consequences for Laurens Vanthoor.
Toyota kept the best time with N°8, as did United Autosport, with Oreca N°23 in LMP2. Akkodis, in LMGT3, maintained the reference, in order to enjoy the pleasure of first place, with N°87.
