In a session that demanded the very best from race engineers to release their cars and drivers at the right time to ensure an optimum lap time on a crowded circuit, provisional pole position went to the #15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M- Hybrid V8 in which Dries Vanthoor set a 3:24.465 late in the session.
Second quickest was the #3 Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Sebastien Bourdais which lapped in 3:24.642 closely followed by the first of the Ferrari 499P, the #50 car, in which Antonio Fuoco put in a 3:24.731.
In a turnaround of form, the #35 Alpine A424 of Pail-Loup Chatin set the fourth quickest time with a 3:24.872.
Alex Lynn’s #2 Cadillac, Pier Guidi’s #51 Ferrari, Kevin Estre’s #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 and the #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche driven by Callum Ilott completed the top eight who now go through to Thursday’s Hyperpole session.
Kamui Kobayashi, at the wheel of the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010-Hybrid was fourth quickest before a spin at the Porsche Curves with three minutes remaining brought out the red flags and curtailed the session which did not restart. As a result, Kobayashi’s times were removed and the #7 Toyota will start from the back of the Hypercar grid when the 24 Hours of Le Mans gets underway at 4.00pm on Saturday June the 15th.
Malthe Jakobsen went quickest in the LMP2 class with a 3:32.827 in the #37 Cool Racing ORECA followed by Louis Deletraz in the #14 AO by TF car with a 3:33.134. United Autosports were third quickest with its #23 entry in the hands of Ben Hanley.
The timing screens in the LMGT3 class were headed by Ben Barker in the #77 Ford Mustang as the new class qualified for the first time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The #70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo was second quickest in the hands of Frederik Schandorff with a 3:55.406 while the #82 TF Sport Corvette, the brand making its return to Le Mans in GT3 form, was third quickest with a 3:56.105, piloted by Dani Juncadcella.
The Le Mans grid now has a further practice session to dial in the cars in readiness for the 30-minute Hyperpole session in which the quickest eight cars in each class from Wednesday’s Qualifying Practice compete for the final grid positions. There is one final two-hour night practice on Thursday after which the cars return to their garages ahead of race day on Saturday June the 15th.
