Dries Vanthoor emerged as the fastest driver in the qualifying session for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, recording a time of 3:24.465 in the BMW Team WRT M Hybrid V8 #15. This achievement puts the car and the team in an advantageous position for tomorrow’s Hyperpole session, which will determine the top 8 contenders. Sebastien Bourdais secured second place in the Cadillac V-Series.R #3, trailing Vanthoor by just 0.177 seconds, while Antonio Fuoco in the Ferrari 499P #50 claimed third place, with a further 0.089 seconds difference.
Initially, the three Ferraris showed their speed, with Fuoco leading the pack with a time of 3:25.321. His teammate Alessandro Pier Guidi in the Ferrari #51 closely followed, and Yifei Ye in the Ferrari #83 held the third position. However, other manufacturers soon joined the competition and began setting their own impressive lap times. Kamui Kobayashi in the Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7 briefly claimed the top spot, only to be surpassed by Fuoco. Bourdais then secured his fastest lap of 3:24.642, establishing himself as the leader of the Cadillac. This time remained unbeaten for a significant portion of the session until Vanthoor surpassed it by nearly two tenths of a second.
Kobayashi finished in fourth place, just 0.023 seconds slower than Fuoco. However, with just over two minutes remaining, the Japanese driver, pushing the limits in an attempt to improve his time, spun at the exit of the Porsche Curves, leaving his Toyota stranded in the gravel. This incident caused a red flag and prematurely ended the session. Currently, an investigation is underway regarding the laps completed by the Toyota #7, raising doubts about whether they will retain their fastest lap.
Paul-Loup Chatin guaranteed fifth place in the Alpine A424 #35, followed by Alex Lynn in the Cadillac #2, who finished sixth. Pier Guidi in the Ferrari #51 secured seventh place, while Kevin Estre in the Porsche 963 #6 completed the top 8 competitors who will compete for the pole position on Thursday.
Stay tuned for the LMP2 report, which will be available soon.
