24h Le Mans
Two hours after a red flag aborted the qualifying session, most of the entries for the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans returned to the track at 22:00 local time for the second free practice. The purpose of this two-hour session is to give drivers the mandatory five laps at the wheel in night-time conditions and for pit crews to carry out further adjustments to settings in preparation for Saturday’s race start.
As darkness descended on the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans and pit lights illuminated the home straight, the #35 Alpine A424 was first out of the pit lane for the day’s final two hours of track time. Fans around the track were still reeling from the news that Toyota would miss out on tomorrow’s Hyperpole session after dominating the afternoon’s opening free practice. Brendon Hartley in the #8 Toyota GR010-Hybrid finished in 11th place, albeit less than a second down on the top time achieved by the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 while all lap times recorded by the #7 sister car were wiped out by the stewards after Kamui Kobayashi’s spin caused the red flag. To rub salt into Kobayashi’s wounds, the #7 car was hit with a five-minute stop and go penalty for an infringement during the slow zone procedure in FP1. The Iron Lynx #19 Lamborghini SC63 received a ten-minute penalty for exceeding track limits during the same session.
Robert Kubica in the #83 Ferrari 499P of AF Corse was first to dip under 3:28 on just his second lap. Sébastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota GR010-Hybrid followed suit shortly afterwards, moving ahead of the Pole. The two hypercars remained at the top of the night practice standings until the chequered flag, recording 32 laps in the session.
The free practice sessions are the time to try different solutions. Toyota Gazoo Racing shod its jet black #7 car white-walled soft tyres as night-time temperatures fell.
In LMP2, fastest qualifier for Hyperpole, Malthe Jakobsen in the #37 Oreca, again showed that COOL Racing will be one of the favourites for the class title with a time of 3:35.386. AO by TF’s #14 Oreca with the fetching Spike the Hedgehog livery enjoyed a quieter session than the afternoon spell until it lost a wheel with 22 minutes to go, causing a short-lived slow zone on the Mulsanne Straight.
Hiroshi Hamagushi pitted with gear selector issues on the United Autosports #95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo early in the session. Flames were later seen from the car’s engine, soon extinguished by the team’s mechanics.
After some time in the team’s garage, the car returned to the track with less than 30 minutes left on the clock. Meanwhile, the GR Racing #86 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 that sat out qualifying completed just a single lap before Michael Wainwright ushered the car back to the mechanics’ care.
Mid-session, Marco Sørensen in D’Station Racing’s #777 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 eclipsed the mark set by the TF Sport #82 Corvette at the top of the LMGT3 timesheets, but Proton Competition’s Dennis Olsen in the #88 Ford Mustang shaved a fraction off the Dane’s time barely minutes later.
Multi-titled motorcycle champion Valentino Rossi went out for his first night-time laps after 40 minutes of the session. Despite comprehensive preparation, even The Doctor will undoubtedly find the experience of hurtling down the Mulsanne Straight in the dark somewhat unnerving.
The session was terminated by a red flag 30 seconds from the scheduled end as a result of an accident involving Callum Ilott in the Hertz Team Jota #12 Porsche 963 that appeared to cause some suspension damage.
The 62 competitors will return to the track tomorrow at 15:00 for three hours of practice, plus a further hour at 22:00. But all eyes will be on the 30-minute, 24-car Hyperpole sprint at 20:00 which will see the cars battle for the best grid slots! Check out the day’s action here!
#8 Toyota GR010-Hybrid – Toyota Gazoo Racing – Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa – 3:27.474
#37 Oreca 07-Gibson – COOL Racing – Fluxá/Jakobsen/Miyata – 3.35.386
#88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 – Proton Competition – Roda/Pedersen/Olsen – 3:58.689
