24h Le Mans
Ferrari is off to a flying start! Antonio Giovinazzi put the #51 Ferrari 499P in pole position at the end of a breathtaking Hyperpole ahead of the Qatar 1812km, the season’s opening race. Let’s look back on a hotly contested session, clinched with a last-gasp lap!
For the 2025 season, the FIA World Endurance Championship has introduced an improved qualifying system that sees the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes take part in two qualifying sessions each. Both classes have a 12-minute opening session followed by a 10-minute Hyperpole for the top 10 qualifiers that decides pole position for each class.
The season’s first Hypercar Hyperpole kept all its promise, offering intense action through to the dying moments. After the first phase of qualifying, 10 cars secured a place in the final showdown that shut out the Porsche 963s of Porsche Penske Motorsport and the Aston Martin Valkyries of Aston Martin THOR Team. Porsche fans can however take comfort in the fact that, while the car has difficulty in finding single-lap pace, its performance on long stints inspres much greater confidence.
The drivers gradually stepped up the pace during the Hyperpole session. Dries Vanthoor was the first to catch the eye with a 1:38.495 lap in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, placing the Bavarian manufacturer at the top of the charts ahead of the #51 Ferrari 499P and the #20 BMW. But the pack was reshuffled in the final minutes.
Alex Lynn briefly took up second place in the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R, before he was in turn knocked down by Antonio Fuoco in the #50 Ferrari. But it was fellow Ferrari AF Corse driver Giovinazzi who had the final word. The Italian snatched pole on the final lap in the #51 Ferrari in a time of 1:38.359, one-tenth faster than Vanthoor.
With this performance, Ferrari AF Corse takes the first pole position of the season and confirms its ambitions in the face of some stellar competition. The race promises to be an exciting battle, where endurance and strategy management will play key roles.
1. #51 Ferrari 499P | Ferrari AF Corse | 1:38.359
2. #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 | BMW M Team WRT | +0.136
3. #50 Ferrari 499P | Ferrari AF Corse | +0.333
4. #12 Cadillac V-Series.R | Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA | +0.364
5. #38 Cadillac V-Series.R | Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA | +0.677
The ten Hyperpole qualifiers were, in order, the #95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo of United Autosports, the #78 Lexus RC F LMGT3 of Akkodis ASP Team, the #59 McLaren of United Autosport USA, the #87 Lexus of Akkodis ASP Team, the #21 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 of Vista AF Corse, the #46 BMW M4 LMGT3 of Team WRT, the #27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 of Heart Of Racing, the #54 Ferrari of Vista AF Corse, the #81 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R of TF Sport and the #88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 of Proton Competition.
United Autosports’ Sean Gelael, at the wheel of the #95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo, was first to set the time to beat in 1:54.338. With less than two minutes left on the clock, Zacharie Robichon went on the attack in the #27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 fielded by Heart Of Racing, but the Canadian fell short. At the same moment, Akkodis ASP Team’s Finn Gehrsitz spun in the #78 Lexus RC F LMGT3.
Gelael managed to hang on to his lead throughout the breathtaking session and clinch Hyperpole ahead of the #59 McLaren of United Autosports, driven by Sébastien Baud, just two-tenths of a second in arrears. Gehrsitz recovered from his error to take third place in the #78 Lexus, while the two Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3s (#21 and #54) rounded out the top five.
1. #95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 EVO | United Autosports |1:54.239
2. #59 McLaren 720S LMGT3 EVO | United Autosports | 0.239
3. #78 Lexus RC F LMGT3 | Akkodis ASP Team | +0.245
4. #54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 | Vista AF Corse | +0.355
5. #21 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 | Vista AF Corse | +0.370
The Qatar 1812km will start this Friday 28 February at 11:00 UTC.
