Cadillac Penalized, BMW Gets Le Mans Pole

LE MANS, France — Hyperpole Qualifying for the 94th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe may have had more drama off the track than on it.

Jack Aitken, driving the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac, was quickest on the road, but a penalty for not complying with the pit lane start procedure to the start of the evening dropped the car to 10th on the grid. That promoted the MBW My Hybrid V8 shared by Kevin Magnussen,Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor to the top spot.

In LMP2, the No. 29 Forestier Racing by Panis entry claimed pole and in LMGT3, Heart of Racing and Aston Martin secured the top spot.

In Hyperpole 1, the 15 fastest cars from Wednesday’s qualifying session went head-to-head in low-fuel trim.

BMW were the first to circulate and immediately laid down the gauntlet with a provisional one-two. However, an influx of competitive laps from Cadillac, Genesis, Alpine and Toyota offered an early glimpse that sparks were about to fly.

Halfway through the session, with the sun disappearing behind the clouds and ambient temperatures dropping by the minute, every team dived into the pit lane to bolt on fresh soft tires and extract every ounce of performance.

Charles Milesi delighted the French crowd by setting the fastest time in Hyperpole 1, with the ever-present Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac second and the No.17 Genesis Magma Racing machine third.

The biggest story was Toyota’s elimination. Both GR010 HYBRIDs were dumped out in the opening session, managing only 14th and 15th fastest.

In Hyperpole 2, the atmosphere was palpable as the 10 fastest cars headed out for one final dogfight.

BMW laid down the gauntlet as Dries Vanthoor scorched the timesheets with a 3:22.745 on the first runs. The Belgian Bullet then found even more pace, hustling the M Hybrid V8 around the 13.626km Circuit de la Sarthe to shave a few more tenths from his benchmark.

BMW looked set for pole, but a textbook final lap from Jack Aitken aboard the No. 38 Cadillac snatched top spot by just five thousandths of a second, securing what appeared to be back-to-back poles for Cadillac at Le Mans.

However, an infringement from earlier in the week resulted in a penalty that dropped the British driver and the American team to tenth on the grid.

The sister No. 12 Cadillac of Will Stevens inherited second place, while French hopes rest on the No. 35 Alpine A424 in third, ahead of the No. 20 BMW in fourth and the WTR-run Cadillac in fifth.

Genesis enjoyed a dream Le Mans debut by qualifying sixth and ninth overall. British fans will be cheering on the No. 009 Aston Martin from seventh, while the Italian tifosi will be left hoping the No. 51 Ferrari can move forward after qualifying eighth.

LMP2 and LMGT3

In the LMP2 prototypes, Tom Dillmann was the class act, booking Inter Europol Competition a place in Hyperpole 2, with the No. 4 CrowdStrike Racing by APR just a tenth behind.

In the GT category, Heart of Racing carried its Free Practice pace into Hyperpole 1 to ensure Aston Martin would be represented in the top 10.

In fact, seven of the eight LMGT3 manufacturers secured places in the final shootout, with only McLaren missing out.

Hyperpole 2 saw just 15 minutes on the clock.

The final five minutes stirred the emotions, with eight of the 10 cars dipping below the previous pole time in a frenetic finale.

The No. 28 IDEC Sport entry struck first, with Job van Uitert at the wheel. His rapid run would eventually be shuffled down the order, but as the session unfolded he was the final driver to complete his lap. The Flying Dutchman ultimately secured second place, although he could not match the pace of the car ahead.

Esteban Masson, aboard the No. 29 Forestier Racing by Panis machine, was on rails, setting a scorching 3:32.855 to claim LMP2 pole.

It was panic stations at the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team garage. The mechanics struggled to close the driver’s door, costing Jack Hawksworth valuable track time. The brilliant Brit refused to let it ruin his evening, setting the fourth-fastest time behind team-mate José María López in the sister No. 87 Lexus.

Vista AF Corse, with the No. 21 Ferrari, will line up on the front row in second, while Mattia Drudi secured a sublime pole position for Heart of Racing and Aston Martin with a 3:52.433.

Hypercar

1. BMW M Hybrid V8 #15 BMW M Team WRT – Kevin Magnussen / Raffaele Marciello / Dries Vanthoor – 3’22’’564
2. Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Louis Delétraz / Will Stevens / Norman Nato – 3’23’’079

3.Alpine A424 #35 Alpine Endurance Team – António Félix Da Costa / Charles Milesi / Ferdinand Habsburg – 3’23’’620

4. BMW M Hybrid V8 #20 BMW M Team WRT – Robin Frijns / Rene Rast / Sheldon van der Linde – 3’23’’764
5. Cadillac V-Series.R #101 Cadillac WTR – Ricky Taylor / Jordan Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque – 3’23’’778
6. Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar #19 Genesis Magma Racing – Mathieu Jaminet / Paul-Loup Chatin / Daniel Juncadella – 3’23’’823
7. Aston Martin Valkyrie #009 Aston Martin THOR Team – Alex Riberas / Marco Sørensen / Roman De Angelis – 3’24’’729
8. Ferrari 499P #51 Ferrari-AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi – 3’25’’081
9. Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar #17 Genesis Magma Racing – André Lotterer / Luis Felipe Derani / Mathys Jaubert – 3’26’’116
10. Cadillac V-Series.R #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Sébastien Bourdais / Earl Bamber / Jack Aitken – 3’22’’559

LMP2

1. Oreca 07-Gibson #29 Forestier Racing by Panis – Louis Rousset / Esteban Masson / Oliver Gray – 3’32’’855
2. Oreca 07-Gibson #28 IDEC Sport – Paul Lafargue / Valerio Rinicella / Job Van Uitert – 3’33’’242
3. Oreca 07-Gibson #24 Nielsen Racing – David Heinemeier Hansson / Edward Pearson / Jack Doohan – 3’33’’510
4. Oreca 07-Gibson #43 Inter Europol Competition – Jakub Smiechowski / Tom Dillmann / Nicholas Yelloly – 3’33’’578
5. Oreca 07-Gibson #4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR – George Kurtz / Alexander Quinn / Laurin Heinrich (LMP2 Pro/Am) – 3’33’’628
6. Oreca 07-Gibson #30 Duqueine Team – Doriane Pin / Julien Andlauer / Richard Verschoor – 3’33’’702
7. Oreca 07-Gibson #14 TDS Racing – Tobias Lutke / Mathias Beche / Kévin Estre (LMP2 Pro/Am) – 3’33’’715
8. Oreca 07-Gibson #99 AO by TF – PJ Hyett / James Allen / Dane Cameron (LMP2 Pro/Am) – 3’34’’280
9. Oreca 07-Gibson #183 AF Corse – François Perrodo / Matthieu Vaxiviere / Ben Barnicoat (LMP2 Pro/Am) – 3’34’’692
10. Oreca 07-Gibson #343 Inter Europol Competition – Bijoy Carg / Reshad De Gérus / Nico Müller – 3’35’’038

LMGT3

1. Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 #27 Heart Of Racing – Ian James / Zacharie Robichon / Mattia Drudi – 3’52’’433
2. Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo #21 Vista AF Corse – François Heriau / Simon Mann / Alessio Rovera – 3’53’’412
3. Lexus RC F LMGT3 #87 Akkodis ASP Team – Petru Umbrărescu / Clemens Schmid / José María López – 3’53’’614
4. Lexus RC F LMGT3 #78 Akkodis ASP Team – Tom Van Rompuy / Hadrien David / Jack Hawksworth – 3’53’’869
5. BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo #32 Team WRT – Darren Leung / Sean Gelael / Augusto Farfus – 3’54’’401
6. BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo #69 Team WRT – Anthony McIntosh / Parker Thompson / Daniel Harper – 3’54’’655
7. Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo #74 Kessel Racing – Dustin Blattner / Lorenzo Patrese / Dennis Marschall – 3’54’’677
8. Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 #23 Heart Of Racing – Gray Newell / Eduardo Barrichello / Jonny Adam – 3’54’’888
9. Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 #91 Manthey DK Engineering – James Cottingham / Timur Boguslavskiy / Ayhancan Güven – 3’55’’610
10. Ford Mustang LMGT3 #77 Proton Competition – Eric Powell / Ben Tuck / Sebastian Priaulx – 3’55’’666