24 Hours of Le Mans: Hypercars Qualifying

HyperCarWEC

Jun 8

Four hypercar manufacturers (Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche and Cadillac) qualified each two cars for the Hyperpole, which will run tonight between 8:00 - 8:30 pm, featuring the eight best cars in each class participating in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Two Ferrari 499P in front row

Ferrari demonstrated its ambitions for the 24 Hours of Le Mans yesterday by dominating both sessions ahead of qualifying session. Antonio Fuoco did set the fastest lap in session 1 and Antonio Giovinazzi in session 2.

The two Ferrari 499Ps made everyone agree by qualifying for the Hyperpole of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the front row. Antonio Fuoco proved the fastest at this stage with 3’25”213 in the 499P #50 shared with Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen.

📷 © Luc Warnotte during qualifying at Le Mans. Ferrari 499P #50.

Pier Guidi, at the wheel of the 499P number 51, was just 0”199 behind.

📷 © Luc Warnotte during session 2 at Le Mans dominated by Ferrari 499P #51.

Toyota Gazoo Racing on target

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing remains on target to challenge for a record-setting seventh consecutive Le Mans 24 Hours pole position after the first official day of track action for the centenary anniversary edition of the legendary French race.

Kamui Kobayashi, who can equal Jacky Ickx’s mark of five Le Mans pole positions, comfortably reached Hyperpole, setting the third fastest time in the #7 GR010 HYBRID he shares with Mike Conway and José María López. His lap of 3mins 25.485secs was just 0.272secs behind the pace-setting #50 Ferrari.

📷 © Luc Warnotte during qualifying at Le Mans. #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “It has been a busy first day of practice and the cars have both run without problems, which is positive. As well as improving the balance for the race, our target today was to get both cars into Hyperpole so we can fight for pole position. It was not easy, but we made it through. To be honest it looks like it will be tough for us to get pole position; I am not sure we are quick enough right now. We are making progress step by step through the practice sessions, so will keep working hard and fighting to improve.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Last year’s winners Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa will also be in the hunt for pole position on Thursday in their #8 GR010 HYBRID. Hartley, who took pole last year, was at the wheel for qualifying and set the fourth quickest time.

📷 © Luc Warnotte during qualifying at Le Mans. #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.

Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “It was pretty tight in qualifying. I backed off on my first lap because I started too close to a Peugeot. I should have completed that lap and to have a decent time in the bank because afterwards I had a sequence of yellow flags just in front of me. I had to back off each time and I was lucky to get one clean lap on the board, so it’s a relief to get through to Hyperpole. We have not been the quickest and we are not yet at 100% with our car balance. We are still trying to figure out some compromises on set-up but we are pushing to find more performance for Hyperpole and the race.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Two Porsche 963 qualify for the hyperpole

At the end of the session, the two 515+ kW (700 PS) hybrid prototypes from Weissach initially posted the fifth and sixth fastest times with Frédéric Makowiecki in the #5 Porsche 963 and Felipe Nasr in the #75 sister car. Subsequently, the two fastest lap times of the Porsche 963 which flies the starting #75 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Porsche sports cars were cancelled: a torque sensor had recorded performance peaks that were outside the range prescribed by the regulations. Fortunately for Nasr and his teammates Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet, it was still enough for eighth place.

“What a crazy qualifying! I have mixed feelings about our result,” explains Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh. “Two of the three works cars made it into the hyperpole, although we were biting our nails with our number 75 car after the two fastest lap times were thrown out. It’s a shame that our third car missed out on qualifying for the hyperpole by such a tiny margin, but we simply have to accept that now. I also feel very sorry for our customer team, Hertz Team Jota, whose Porsche 963 was unable to turn a timed lap due to a defect.” Source: Porsche

📷 © Luc Warnotte during qualifying at Le Mans. #5 Porsche 963.

Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 963 #5): “It was tricky. On my fastest lap, I got held up behind an LMP2 car in the first chicane and lost time in the process. At first, I thought I’d have to abandon my attempt, but I went full throttle instead. That was enough to put me quite far ahead. Our team did a great job in the lead-up to qualifying. I’m proud of the whole team.”Source: Porsche

📷 © Luc Warnotte during qualifying at Le Mans. #75 Porsche 963.

Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #75): “I’m pleased that we made it into the hyperpole – even though it was close in the end. It’s great that one of our sister cars is also in the top 8. It was difficult to attack at the right moment and it was a question of luck: will I get a clear lap or not? I’m happy that it was enough for us. This result shows that we’ve made noticeable progress. It’s a well-deserved reward for our team’s hard work.” Source: Porsche

Cadillac Racing with two V-Series.R to Hyperpole

Two Cadillac Racing V-Series.R hybrid racecars advanced to the June 8 Hyperpole qualifications that will decide the pole winner for the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans and set the top four rows for the iconic endurance race June 10-11.

The #3 Cadillac V-Series.R, with hometown hero Sebastien Bourdais behind the wheel paced the Cadillac Racing three-car Hypercar contingent with a best lap of 3 minutes, 25.924 seconds during the 60-minute session on the 8.47-mile (13.629 kilometers) Circuit de la Sarthe course to place sixth. Source: Cadillac Racing

📷 © Luc Warnotte during qualifying at Le Mans. #3 Cadillac V-Series.R

Sebastien Bourdais: "I think it was a pretty solid lap, even though we got to the bottom of the tank and there were quite a few laps on the tires. At the end of the day, it was enough to get in the Hyperpole and that’s what we wanted. The car feels really good I most places; we need to make some gains but overall a great result for Cadillac and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

Earl Bamber drove the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R to a best lap of 3:26.020 to claim the seventh spot in the shootout. The No. 311 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Pipo Derani finished 12th in the session with a best lap of 3:28.767. The No. 50 Ferrari 499P topped the 16-car Hypercar field with a lap of 3:25.213 in the session interrupted twice by red flags. Source: Cadillac Racing

📷 © Luc Warnotte during free session 1 at Le Mans. #2 Cadillac V-Series.R

Earl Bamber: "I think it’s really good being here at Le Mans the first time with the new Cadillac program to make the Hyperpole. We’re right in the mix. Now we have the shootout. I think we have all the ingredients to be good and then work on our race pace. We’ll be ready.”