Successful test for Porsche

WECHyperCar

Jun 10

The 62 teams have completed their preparations for the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans on the official test day. The two sessions on the Circuit des 24 Heures, six hours of track time, were interrupted by red flags due to incidents despite favourable track conditions. Below are the first 6 Hypercars and the 10 fastest drivers of the day. These results in no way prejudge the forces involved because we have no information on what the teams do in terms of tire choice, quantity of fuel or risks taken...

Kevin Estre sets the Benchmark

The three Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 turned a total of 196 laps and extremely steady laps over the long run and occupying first, second and fourth in the time sheets. The fastest lap of the entire test day was set by works driver Kévin Estre from France in 3:26.807 minutes.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Le Mans Test Day 2024.

“We used the test to check the brakes and try out a few critical things,” says Jonathan Diuguid. The Managing Director of Porsche Penske Motorsport adds: “We did everything we could to be as well prepared as possible for the upcoming race week. We tested the tyres and implemented several setup variations. We’ve now collected sufficient data for an intensive analysis.”

Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6): “Our car ran like a dream from the very first lap and I immediately had a great feeling. During the test day we made further progress as part of the normal setup work. At the start of the second session, I got two clear laps in without slower traffic and my lap times reflected this. We’re definitely in a better position compared to last year.”

Perfect integration of the IMSA Porsche 963

“Our third Porsche 963 and some of the crew came directly from the USA. The integration worked perfectly, and the racing car immediately reached at the same high level as the two regular WEC vehicles.

Felipe Nasr in 3:27.142 was second with IMSA Porsche 963 #4 followed by his teammate Nick Tandy in 3:27.356.

Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #4): “I only drove a few laps today, but it’s a great feeling to be back in Le Mans. We tried out many different vehicle setups and our lap times looked impressive. We made it into the top four with all three cars. Let’s hope that we can be that far ahead in all of next week’s sessions.” Source: Porsche

Toyota #8 third

Brendon Hartley did set the fifth best lap of 3:27.615 which puts the #8 GR010 HYBRID in third position the day. Sébastien Buemi was eight in 3:27.899 With #8 Toyota also shared by Ryo Hirakawa.

Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “Obviously its’s always a great pleasure to be back at Le Mans. We had good weather, which may not be the case all through race week, and I was able to do quite a few laps. I started the day and finished it, so I saw a big track improvement but the car feels quite good and I am quite happy with how the day went. We have time to look at the data and see what we can improve for Wednesday.”
Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “It’s really nice to be back at Le Mans. Every year when I come back here it is a real pleasure; it feels like we are back at home. It was a smooth day with no real drama and we got through the majority of the run plan. There were a few red flags and safety cars but that’s the same for everyone. It looks promising for us at this stage. We never know what everyone is doing. but it’s been a positive start.”
Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “We tested a lot of different options and it has been a useful day. We ran through our programme and now we will focus over the next few days on investigating the data and improving the set-up for race week. So far everything looks reasonable but we still need to improve a bit to catch up to our competitors. I am sure we can improve further for race week.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Third Porsche Penske Motorsport fourth

The second WEC Porsche Penske Motorsport (#5) saw both Michael Christensen and Matt Campbel setting respectively the sixth (3:27.779) and seventh (3:27.819) fastest lap of the day.

Michael Christensen (Porsche 963 #5): “It feels great to be back driving on this very special Le Mans circuit at last. The conditions were super today. Our car handled beautifully, and we managed to tick off almost everything on our test list. However, we still need to try out a few more things in the practice sessions at the start of the race week. The test day is always critical – for us drivers and the whole team.”

Ferrari 499P Fifth

Miguel Molina was ninth driver of the day in 3:28.014 with #50 Ferrari, which is 1.107 seconds slower than Estre’s Benchmark. Note that the second fastest Ferrari Works driver, Antonio Giovinazzi was 23rd of the day with sister Ferrari 499P #51.