Cadillac dominates Hyperpole at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Alex Lynn on pole and Earl Bamber securing a historic front-row lockout.
Cadillac achieved a resounding one-two finish in the Hyperpole session, with Alex Lynn ahead of Earl Bamber. Porsche and BMW placed ahead of Ferrari, Toyota, and Alpine. In LMP2, Mathias Beche claimed pole. In LMGT3, Mattia Drudi set the fastest time for Aston Martin.
A historic first: this marks the first time Cadillac has secured pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And the success didn’t stop there — the American manufacturer locked out the entire front row for the 93rd edition of the iconic race, which begins Saturday at 4 PM. British driver Alex Lynn (No. 12) edged out his teammate from the Hertz Team JOTA, New Zealander Earl Bamber, by 167 thousandths in a session run under ideal conditions.
Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet put in a strong effort to clock the third-fastest time in his Porsche 963. Belgian Dries Vanthoor (BMW) will join him on the second row. The two German manufacturers also share the third row, with Nick Tandy (Porsche, 5th) and Sheldon van der Linde (BMW, 6th).
Defending champion Ferrari did not impress. Only one Italian car reached Hyperpole 2: Antonio Fuoco’s, which could do no better than 7th. The top 10 was rounded out by a third Cadillac, from Action Express Racing, and 2022 Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich (8th). The first Alpine A424, driven by Fred Makowiecki, secured 9th.
At Toyota, frustration reigned. Sébastien Buemi flat-spotted his right front tire while braking into Mulsanne on his first timed lap of Hyperpole 2. The Swiss driver ended up in the gravel and returned slowly to the garage without time to change tires and head back out. He will therefore start 10th, having failed to set a lap time.
| P | No | Team / Driver | Best lap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | CADILLAC HERTZ TEAM JOTA / A. Lynn | 3:23.166 |
| 2 | 38 | CADILLAC HERTZ TEAM JOTA / E. Bamber | 3:23.333 |
| 3 | 5 | PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT / M. Jaminet | 3:23.475 |
| 4 | 15 | BMW M TEAM WRT / D. Vanthoor | 3:23.659 |
| 5 | 4 | PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT / N. Tandy | 3:23.983 |
| 6 | 20 | BMW M TEAM WRT / S. Van Der Linde | 3:24.009 |
| 7 | 50 | FERRARI AF CORSE / A. Fuoco | 3:24.213 |
| 8 | 311 | CADILLAC WHELEN / F. Drugovich | 3:24.380 |
| 9 | 36 | ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM / F. Makowiecki | 3:24.398 |
| 10 | 8 | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING / S. Buemi | No time |
Hyperpole 1 Hypercar
A shock in the Ferrari garage at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: the Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi (No. 51) did not feature among the 10 fastest Hypercars in this first phase of Hyperpole. The Italian, a 2023 Le Mans winner, managed only the 11th-fastest time.
Among the other drivers eliminated from Hyperpole 1, disappointment also struck in the neighboring AF Corse box, as Yifei Ye (Ferrari No. 83) was knocked out, finishing 13th.
Following a non-stop strategy without a pit stop to change tires, Paul-Loup Chatin (Alpine No. 35) failed to break into the top 10.
After an engine change during Thursday afternoon’s Free Practice, the Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Ricky Taylor could have made it into Hyperpole 2, but his best lap was disallowed for track limits violations.
As expected, the only Aston Martin Valkyrie entered in Hyperpole, the No. 009 driven by Marco Sorensen, did not make the cut.
Hyperpole LMP2
The dragon was slain by the lion. With a feline emblem on the bodywork of his TDS Racing Oreca 07, Mathias Beche overcame the 2024 poleman, fellow Swiss driver Louis Delétraz. Beche recorded the third-fastest time in his violet-liveried Oreca from AO by TF.
IMSA LMP2 champion in 2024 and absent from Le Mans last year, Tom Dillmann reminded the French crowd of his talent by clocking the second-best time for Inter Europol Competition, the 2023-winning team. The Alsatian will start second, sandwiched between the two Swiss drivers.
United Autosports delivered an impressive grouped effort, with Ben Hanley finishing ahead of the sister car driven by Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of double Formula One World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi. Dressed in a brilliantly shiny gold livery, Matthieu Vaxiviere took seventh place, just behind Tom Blomqvist (CLX) and ahead of Ryan Cullen (RLR M Sport).
| Pos | Car | Pilotes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #29 TDS | Beche / Novalak / Sales |
| 2 | #43 Inter Europol | Dillmann / Yelloly / Smiechowski |
| 3 | #199 AO by TF | Deletraz / Cameron / Hyett |
| 4 | #23 United Autosports | Jarvis / Hanley / Schneider |
| 5 | #22 United Autosports | van der Zande / Fittipaldi / Heinemeier Hansson |
| 6 | #37 CLX Pure | Blomqvist / Vautier / Malykhin |
| 7 | #183 AF Corse | Vaxiviere / Felix da Costa / Perrodo |
| 8 | #16 RLR MSport | Pilet / Jensen / Cullen |
| 9 | #28 Idec Sport | van Uitert / Alvarez / Lafargue |
| 10 | #45 Algarve Pro | Kurtz / Catsburg / Quinn |
| 11 | #48 VDS Panis | Perera / Masson / Gray |
| 12 | #25 Algarve Pro | Pourchaire / Fluxa / Kaiser |
| 13 | #11 Proton Competition | Roda / Binder / Viscaal |
| 14 | #18 Idec Sport | Chadwick / Jaubert / Lotterer |
| 15 | #9 Iron Lynx – Proton | Ried / Capietto / De Gerus |
| 16 | #34 Inter Europol | Boulle / Simmenauer / Ghiotto |
| 17 | #24 Nielsen | Rao / Bolukbasi / Braun |
Hyperpole LMGT3
In his debut appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Mattia Drudi (Aston Martin) made a strong impression. The Italian, winner of the 2024 24 Hours of Spa and a GT3 specialist, led the Heart of Racing Team to the top of the category during the Hyperpole session. A strong effort allowed him to edge out the Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessio Rovera (Vista AF Corse), one of the top contenders in LMGT3 in the WEC.
Superstar Valentino Rossi (BMW) had the luxury of posting a faster time than GT experts Maxime Martin (Mercedes-AMG) and Richard Lietz (Porsche). Eight different manufacturers make up the top eight, highlighting the appeal of the category. The French team Akkodis ASP will start from eighth place.
Hyperpole 1 was marked by Francesco Castellacci’s (Ferrari No. 54) trip into the gravel at the first Porsche Curve. The Italian was unable to complete a single flying lap and will therefore start 12th in LMGT3.
| Pos | Car | Pilotes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin | Drudi / Robichon / James |
| 2 | #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari | Rovera / Mann / Heriau |
| 3 | #46 WRT BMW | van der Linde / Rossi / Al Harthy |
| 4 | #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes | Martin / Hodenius / Berry |
| 5 | #92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche | Lietz / Pera / Hardwick |
| 6 | #81 TF Sport Corvette | Eastwood / Andrade / Martin |
| 7 | #95 United Autosports McLaren | Sato / Gelael / Leung |
| 8 | #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus | Hawksworth / Gehrsitz / Robin |
| 9 | #193 Ziggo Tempesta Ferrari | Cheever / Froggatt / Hui |
| 10 | #88 Proton Ford | Olsen / Levorato / Gattuso |
| 11 | #59 United Autosports McLaren | Saucy / Baud / Cottingham |
| 12 | #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari | Rigon / Castellacci / Flohr |
| 13 | #77 Proton Ford | Barker / Tuck / Sousa |
| 14 | #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus | Lopez / Schmid / Umbrarescu |
| 15 | #57 Kessel Ferrari | Serra / Stevenson / Kimura |
| 16 | #31 WRT BMW | Farfus / Boguslavskiy / Shahin |
| 17 | #33 TF Sport Corvette | Juncadella / Edgar / Keating |
| 18 | #10 Racing Spirit of LeMan Aston Martin | Hasse-Clot / Barrichello / DeBoer |
| 19 | #85 Iron Dames Porsche | Frey / Martin / Bovy |
| 20 | #90 Manthey Porsche | Bachler / Hartog / Au |
| 21 | #13 AWA Corvette | Bell / Kern / Fidani |
| 22 | #60 Iron Lynx Mercedes | Rueda / Hanafin / Gilbert |
| 23 | #63 Iron Lynx Mercedes | Stolz / Grove / Grove |
| 24 | #150 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari | Agostini / Wadoux / Toledo |
