24 Hours of Le Mans – Hyperpole: Cadillac doubles up in qualifying
The Cadillacs were masterful in the final sector, taking the top two places in qualifying. In LMP2, the drivers put up a good fight, but Mathias Beche was too strong. In GT3, Heart of Racing pulled out all the stops to take pole.
Twelve LMP2s, twelve GT3s, and fifteen hypercars. The hyperpole allowed the best drivers to earn their ticket this Wednesday.
LMP2 – GT3
The first minutes of the session were disrupted by the off-track excursion of the #54 Ferrari from Vista AF Corse, at the entrance of the Porsche corners. Stuck in the gravel trap, the red flag had to be brought out. With only ten minutes to set a benchmark, they had to push hard to warm up the tires and seize the opportunity to reach the second part of the hyperpole.
Four minutes before the end, the McLaren #95 had to throw in the towel on the Hunaudières. The United Autosports car was parked in a run-off area, which did not result in a yellow flag.
The #43 of Inter Europol produced a masterful lap and relegated the competition to nearly six-tenths (3:34.657). Big disappointment for Algarve Pro Racing as both of its cars were eliminated.
In GT3, the WRT team repeated with, once again, the best time of this first session. Noteworthy is the fine performance of Iron Lynx: the #61 secured the fifth reference. Sean Gelael, who had stopped in the Hunaudières, managed to get going again and, to everyone’s surprise, clocked the eighth and final qualifying time for H2.
The H2
This time, there were not 20 but 15 minutes to make the difference. After a long-distance battle among serious competitors, Mathias Beche in the TDS Racing #29 secured the pole position for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 category.
© Motors Inside / Alexandre Rodrigues / The TDS Racing was the fastest in hyperpole.
In GT3, Valentino Rossi opted for a clever tactic: positioning himself behind the Mercedes to gain time. This allowed him to gain precious tenths, but not to secure the pole position. The Aston Martin #27 from Heart of Racing was too fast during this session and will start at the front on Saturday.
© Motors Inside / Alexandre Rodrigues / Aston Martin #27 will start on pole.
Hypercar
Three cars achieved a very interesting benchmark on the first attempt: the Cadillac #38 (3:24.315), the Alpine #36 (3:24.183), and the Porsche #5 (3:23.979). The qualifying times from the previous day remained unbeaten.
Big scare for the Porsche #5. After pitting for a tire change, it lost a wheel, which caused a yellow flag. Fortunately, this did not impede any competitor. Meanwhile, Will Stevens in the Cadillac #38 set the fastest time before having his time disqualified. Mick Schumacher in the Alpine #36 lined up the sectors right after (3:23.462).
The German’s record didn’t last long. It was beaten by the Ferrari #50, BMW #20, and Cadillacs #38 and #311. Jack Aitken is the only one to have gone under the 3:23 mark (3:22.742). Yesterday’s 3:22.847 was beaten.
H2
Sébastien Buémi’s H2 got off to a bad start with an excursion into the gravel at Mulsanne. Upon returning to the track, he slightly hindered the #50 Ferrari. After a crazy duel in the final minutes, the Cadillacs put on a magnificent performance, especially in the last sector. Alex Lynn, in the #12, gained eight tenths to claim the pole position. The #38 will start alongside him.
Sébastien Buemi couldn’t set any times. This means that Toyota #8 will start tenth.
