24h Le Mans
The majority of the 62 teams have made the most of another three hours of track time to learn more about the iconic Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans. Fine-tuned preparation is all-important in a 24-hour race like this. Rookies in particular need all the practice they can get on a circuit that combines permanent racetrack and long portions of public road used by everyday motorists. While some crews have worked on rectifying issues identified during yesterday’s five hours of free practice and 60 minutes of qualifying, others have focused on getting the car ready for Saturday’s start. The Hyperpole candidates have tweaked their settings with a view to improving their single-lap pace ahead of this evening’s 30-minute sprint. Grip, however, proved to somewhat problematic during the session.
Light cloud cover and an air temperature of 20°C welcomed the competitors on this Thursday afternoon. Before the green flag, 23 competitors received notice of a 5-minute stop and hold penalty for yellow flag infringements.
Among the Hypercars to dip early under the 3:30 bar were the #7 Toyota GR010-Hybrid driven by José María López, the #51 Ferrari 499P with birthday boy James Calado at the wheel and the #311 Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Whelen Cadillac Racing’s Jack Aitken. They were soon joined by Andrea Caldarelli in the #19 Lamborghini SC63, Mick Schumacher in the #36 Alpine A424, Felipe Nasr in the #4 works Porsche 963 and the #2 Cadillac driven by Alex Palou. After an hour of the session, ten competitors from six different manufacturers were within a second of the #2 Cadillac’s benchmark. Never before has this famous old race been so closely contested by so many!
Sébastien Buemi, sitting in second position in the afternoon’s session, encountered a touch of trouble pitting the #8 Toyota, but managed to get the wheels back on the straight and narrow.
With a shade under 40 minutes left in the session, Kévin Estre in the #6 works Porsche was the first of the day to go under 3:28, followed shortly afterwards by Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota GR010-Hybrid. At the death, Hyperpole contenders limbered up for the evening’s tussle with a raft of hot laps that shoo up the standings. Sébastien Bourdais in the #3 Cadillac and Dries Vanthoor, fastest qualifier in the #15 BMW, improved their marks but last year’s polesitter Antonio Fuoco finally snatched the fastest time in the #50 Ferrari 499P.
Early LMP2 pacemakers included Ben Barnicoat in the AF Corse #183 Pro/Am entry and Maceo Capietto in the #9 Proton Competition Oreca, before Frederik Vesti in the #47 COOL Racing machine jumped to the top of the timesheet, going round in 3:37.342. As the hour mark approached, however, Matt Bell had a moment after taking over the wheel of the #47, running off into the gravel at Indianapolis. A slow zone was introduced from Mulsanne Corner to Arnage while the #47 Oreca was lifted out of the gravel.
With just under an hour left in the session, Mathias Beche in the Panis Racing #65 Oreca shaved a fraction off the COOL Racing #47 prototype’s mark, taking the top spot in 3:37.217. Other leading lights in the LMP2 class were having a more difficult tie of it. Malthe Jakobsen crawled back to the pits in the #37 COOL Racing entry – fastest qualifier in the class yesterday – while Louis Delétraz had great trouble sticking to the racing line in the AO by TF “Spike” Oreca. United Autosports’ Oliver Jarvis echoed many others in reporting that the drivers were struggling with grip today. The session’s leading Panis Racing LMP2, driven by American Scott Huffaker, skirted off into the gravel and into the barrier at Indianapolis.
In LMGT3, United Autosports’ Grégoire Saucy was the early pacesetter in this class in the #59 McLaren with a time of 3:57.558, with Claudio Schiavoni in the Iron Lynx #60 Lamborghini Huracán LMGT3 Evo2 just six-thousandths slower. The #70 McLaren of Inception Racing spent much of the first hour in the pits. Driver Ollie Millroy explained that the mechanics had swapped many of the parts overnight in preparation for the race and the session would serve as a shakedown to check that everything is in good order for Saturday’s start. However, it would appear that issues remain as Fred Schandorff ground to a halt just after Mulsanne and the flat-bed truck was requisitioned.
A red flag was brandished eight minutes before the half-way point when James Cottingham got his line wrong coming out of the Forest Esses and crashed the #59 McLaren at Tertre Rouge. The session returned to green after a 17-minute pause.
The #12 Porsche 963 of Hertz Team Jota is currently being rebuilt on a new chassis following Callum Ilott’s crash that red-flagged yesterday’s night practice. The car is expected to undergo a shakedown on Friday evening and participate in Saturday morning’s warm-up to ensure that the repaired machine is fit to start the race. However, it is out of Hyperpole. Other mechanics to have been extremely busy are the GR Racing team. Their efforts to get the troubled #86 Ferrari 296 GT3 up and running appear to have paid off with the car achieving third-fastest LMGT3 time in the session.
#50 Ferrari 499P – Ferrari AF Corse – Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen – 3:27.283
#65 Oreca 07-Gibson – Panis Racing (PRO/AM) – Sales/Beche/Huffaker – 3:37.217
#59 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo – United Autosports – Cottingham/Costa/Saucy – 3:57.558
