In a breathtaking conclusion to the Hyperpole session, Porsche Penske Motorsport delivered a stunning upset, snatching pole position for the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans from Cadillac in the final moments. The number six Penske Porsche, piloted by the exceptional Kevin Estre, defied expectations, crushing Cadillac’s hopes of a front-row lockout in what promises to be an epic endurance race.
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The Hyperpole session, a dramatic shootout designed to determine the sharp end of the grid, saw the competition at its fiercest. For much of the session, Cadillac Racing looked poised to dominate. The number three Cadillac, steered by the formidable Sebastien Bourdais, had firmly held provisional pole position as the clock ticked down. However, the drama intensified as its sister car, the number two Cadillac, then managed to eclipse Bourdais’ impressive time right at the chequered flag, momentarily claiming the top spot. Yet, even this stellar effort was not enough, as Kevin Estre unleashed a truly sensational final lap, securing pole by a razor-thin margin and sending shockwaves through the paddock.
A total of 23 elite cars were scheduled to participate in the Hyperpole session, with eight entries from each of the three main categories: Hypercar, LMP2, and LMGT3. However, the field faced an early challenge as the number 12 Jota Porsche was unable to take part. The team was engaged in extensive rebuilding work on its new chassis following a devastating crash during Wednesday’s practice session. Adding to the pre-Hyperpole drama, the number seven Toyota Gazoo Racing car had all its qualifying times deleted after a spin by driver Kamui Kobayashi. This unfortunate incident elevated the Jota Porsche into the Hyperpole session despite its subsequent withdrawal, underscoring the unpredictable nature of Le Mans.
The start of the high-stakes session itself was significantly delayed by 35 minutes due to a severe incident in the ‘Road to Le Mans’ support series race. A heavy accident on the approach to the challenging Indianapolis corner necessitated extensive barrier repairs, a critical safety measure before the Hypercars could hit the track. As the session finally commenced, a palpable tension filled the air, further heightened by the ominous threat of rain building over the circuit, adding an extra layer of uncertainty to an already high-pressure environment.
Once the green flag waved, the initial runs saw the factory Ferrari AF Corse entries, the number 50 and number 51 cars, set a blistering early pace. Antonio Fuoco, driving the number 50 Ferrari 499P, momentarily seized provisional pole with a rapid lap of 3’25.598. This impressive benchmark, however, was soon surpassed by Sebastien Bourdais in the number three Cadillac V-Series.R, who found an additional three-tenths of a second to claim the top spot, demonstrating Cadillac’s strong intent early on.
Bourdais continued to push the limits, further improving his own provisional pole lap by an additional four-tenths of a second, cementing Cadillac’s commanding presence at the front while the Ferraris returned to the pits for adjustments. The session then took another dramatic turn when BMW M Team WRT opted for a strategic tyre change, switching their number 15 car from softs to fresh medium compound tyres. However, just as Dries Vanthoor was pushing hard, he ran wide at the notoriously tricky Indianapolis corner, losing control and sliding into the tyre barriers. The incident brought out the red flags, halting the session and adding another twist to the unfolding narrative.
With precisely seven-and-a-half minutes remaining on the clock when the session was red-flagged, there appeared to be ample time for the entire field to regroup and launch at least one final push lap. However, a critical strategic factor complicated matters: teams were strictly limited to using only two sets of tyres per car for the Hyperpole session. Many teams, including Cadillac, had already been running on their second set of tyres when Vanthoor’s crash occurred. Facing this dilemma, Cadillac Racing made the calculated decision not to send their leading number three car back out for a final run, gambling that Bourdais’ time would hold up. This strategic choice would prove pivotal in the frantic closing stages.
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As the session restarted, Ferrari AF Corse sent both their cars out simultaneously, aiming to capitalize on slipstream advantages. However, Antonio Fuoco, in a critical moment, made an error at the first chicane, effectively ending his own chances for pole position. Demonstrating team spirit, rather than completing his own lap, Fuoco strategically pulled over before Tertre Rouge to allow his teammate, Alessandro Pier Guidi in the number 51 Ferrari, to benefit from a slipstream. Pier Guidi made a valiant effort, improving his time to slot into second place, but ultimately he was unable to surpass the then-leading time set by the number two Cadillac, highlighting the immense competition at the front.
With Ferrari now certain not to replicate their pole position triumph from the previous season, the battle for the top spot narrowed down to an intense contest between Cadillac, Porsche, and Alpine. In a truly nail-biting finish, the number two Cadillac appeared to have snatched pole position from its sister car right at the chequered flag, setting a lap time less than half a tenth quicker than its team mate. This momentary triumph fueled Cadillac’s dreams of a Le Mans pole, only for those aspirations to be sensationally shattered in the very last seconds. Kevin Estre, with an absolutely phenomenal final effort in the number six Penske Porsche, delivered a performance that will be etched into Le Mans history, stealing pole by a mere tenth and a half of a second, leaving Cadillac to ponder what might have been.
This dramatic late charge by the number six Porsche secured Penske’s first-ever pole position for the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, a historic achievement for the renowned American racing outfit. The starting grid for Saturday’s endurance classic sees Cadillac Racing line up second and third, with the number two car ahead of the number three. Immediately behind them will be the two factory Ferraris, numbers 51 and 50, setting the stage for an intense Hypercar battle at the front. Alpine’s number 35 entry will start sixth, demonstrating their strong potential. Remarkably, the number 12 Jota Porsche, despite not being able to set a lap time in the session, will start seventh due to other penalties higher up the grid. The number 15 BMW, which caused the red flag, had all its times deleted from Hyperpole and will commence the race from eighth position among the Hypercars.
Beyond the premier Hypercar class, pole position in the fiercely competitive LMP2 category was impressively claimed by AO by TF with their distinctive number 14 ‘Spike the Dragon’ car, showcasing a blend of speed and character. Meanwhile, Inception Racing and their number 70 McLaren 720S Evo secured the coveted pole for the LMGT3 class, promising an equally thrilling battle in the GT ranks.
After a final evening practice session concludes tonight, the highly anticipated 24 Hours of Le Mans will officially begin on Saturday at 4:00 PM local time (3:00 PM UK time), marking the start of motorsport’s ultimate endurance challenge.
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2024 Le Mans 24 Hours Qualifying Results: Hyperpole and Provisional Grid
Below is the detailed qualifying result for the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, showcasing the starting grid for each category following the intense Hyperpole session and subsequent grid penalties. This comprehensive overview highlights the top contenders and sets the stage for the epic race ahead.
| Pos | No. | Class | Team | Car | Drivers | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Hypercar | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Kevin Estre/Andre Lotterer/Laurens Vanthoor | 3’24.6 |
| 2 | 2 | Hypercar | Cadillac Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R | Earl Bamber/Alex Lynn/Alex Palou | 3’24.8 |
| 3 | 3 | Hypercar | Cadillac Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R | Sebastien Bourdais/Renger van der Zande/Scott Dixon | 3’24.8 |
| 4 | 51 | Hypercar | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi | 3’25.2 |
| 5 | 50 | Hypercar | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen | 3’25.6 |
| 6 | 35 | Hypercar | Alpine Endurance Team | Alpine A424 | Paul-Loup Chatin/Ferdinand Habsburg/Charles Milesi | 3’25.7 |
| 7 | 15 | Hypercar | BMW M Team WRT | BMW M Hybrid V8 | Dries Vanthoor/Raffaele Marciello/Marco Wittmann | No time |
| 8 | 12 | Hypercar | Team Jota | Porsche 963 | Will Stevens/Callum Ilott/Norman Nato | No time |
| 9 | 36 | Hypercar | Alpine Endurance Team | Alpine A424 | Nicolas Lapierre/Mick Schumacher/Matthieu Vaxiviere | 3’25.3 |
| 10 | 5 | Hypercar | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Matt Campbell/Michael Christensen/Frederic Makowiecki | 3’25.3 |
| 11 | 8 | Hypercar | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota GR010 | Sebastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa | 3’25.4 |
| 12 | 83 | Hypercar | AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Robert Kubica/Robert Shwartzman/Yifei Ye | 3’25.8 |
| 13 | 63 | Hypercar | Lamborghini Iron Lynx | Lamborghini SC63 | Mirko Bortolotti/Edoardo Mortara/Daniil Kvyat | 3’26.0 |
| 14 | 99 | Hypercar | Proton Competition | Porsche 963 | Harry Tincknell/Neel Jani/Julien Andlauer | 3’26.0 |
| 15 | 93 | Hypercar | Peugeot TotalEnergies | Peugeot 9X8 | Mikkel Jensen/Nico Mueller/Jean-Eric Vergne | 3’26.2 |
| 16 | 20 | Hypercar | BMW M Team WRT | BMW M Hybrid V8 | Sheldon Van Der Linde/Robin Frijns/Rene Rast | 3’26.2 |
| 17 | 38 | Hypercar | Hertz Team Jota | Porsche 963 | Jenson Button/Philip Hanson/Oliver Rasmussen | 3’26.3 |
| 18 | 311 | Hypercar | Whelen Cadillac Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R | Luis Felipe Derani/Jack Aitken/Felipe Drugovich | 3’26.3 |
| 19 | 4 | Hypercar | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Mathieu Jaminet/Felipe Nasr/Nick Tandy | 3’26.4 |
| 20 | 94 | Hypercar | Peugeot TotalEnergies | Peugeot 9X8 | Paul di Resta/Loic Duval/Stoffel Vandoorne | 3’27.3 |
| 21 | 19 | Hypercar | Lamborghini Iron Lynx | Lamborghini SC63 | Romain Grosjean/Andrea Caldarelli/Matteo Cairoli | 3’27.7 |
| 22 | 11 | Hypercar | Isotta Fraschini | Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-C | Antonio Serravalle/Carl Wattana Bennett/Jean-Karl Vernay | 3’29.9 |
| 23 | 7 | Hypercar | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota GR010 | Jose Maria Lopez/Kamui Kobayashi/Nyck de Vries | No time |
| 24 | 14 | LMP2 | AO by TF | Oreca 07 – Gibson | PJ Hyett/Louis Delétraz/Alex Quinn | 3’33.2 |
| 25 | 28 | LMP2 | IDEC Sport | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Paul Lafargue/Job van Uitert/Reshad de Gerus | 3’33.8 |
| 26 | 65 | LMP2 | Panis Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Rodrigo Sales/Mathias Beche/Scott Huffaker | 3’34.1 |
| 27 | 23 | LMP2 | United Autosports | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Ben Keating/Filipe Albuquerque/Ben Hanley | 3’34.2 |
| 28 | 22 | LMP2 | United Autosports | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Oliver Jarvis/Bijoy Garg/Nolan Siegel | 3’34.3 |
| 29 | 37 | LMP2 | Cool Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Lorenzo Fluxa/Malthe Jakobsen/Ritomo Miyata | 3’34.8 |
| 30 | 33 | LMP2 | DKR Engineering | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Alexander Mattschull/Rene Binder/Laurents Horr | 3’35.7 |
| 31 | 10 | LMP2 | Vector Sport | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Ryan Cullen/Patrick Pilet/Stephane Richelmi | 3’35.9 |
| 32 | 183 | LMP2 | AF Corse | Oreca 07 – Gibson | François Perrodo/Ben Barnicoat/Nicolas Varrone | 3’34.8 |
| 33 | 24 | LMP2 | Nielsen Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Fabio Scherer/David Heinemeier Hansson/Kyffin Simpson | 3’34.8 |
| 34 | 34 | LMP2 | Inter Europol Competition | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Jakub Smiechowski/Vladislav Lomko/Clément Novalak | 3’34.9 |
| 35 | 9 | LMP2 | Proton Competition | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Jonas Ried/Maceo Capietto/Bent Viscaal | 3’35.0 |
| 36 | 30 | LMP2 | Duqueine Team | Oreca 07 – Gibson | John Falb/James Allen/Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer | 3’35.1 |
| 37 | 47 | LMP2 | Cool Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Naveen Rao/Matthew Bell/Frederik Vesti | 3’35.4 |
| 38 | 25 | LMP2 | Algarve Pro Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Matthias Kaiser/Olli Caldwell/Roman De Angelis | 3’35.5 |
| 39 | 45 | LMP2 | Crowdstrike Racing by APR | Oreca 07 – Gibson | George Kurtz/Colin Braun/Nicky Catsburg | 3’39.2 |
| 40 | 70 | LMGT3 | Inception Racing | McLaren 720S Evo | Brendan Iribe/Ollie Millroy/Frederik Schandorff | 3’58.1 |
| 41 | 92 | LMGT3 | Manthey Purerxcing | Porsche 911 GT3 R | Aliaksandr Malykhin/Joel Sturm/Klaus Bachler | 3’58.9 |
| 42 | 66 | LMGT3 | JMW Motorsport | Ferrari 296 | Giacomo Petrobelli/Larry ten Voorde/Salih Yoluc | 3’58.9 |
| 43 | 77 | LMGT3 | Proton Competition | Ford Mustang | Ryan Hardwick/Zacharie Robichon/Ben Barker | 3’59.4 |
| 44 | 27 | LMGT3 | Heart Of Racing Team | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Ian James/Daniel Mancinelli/Alex Riberas | 3’59.7 |
| 45 | 777 | LMGT3 | D’Station Racing | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Clement Mateu/Erwan Bastard/Marco Sorensen | 04’02.8 |
| 46 | 82 | LMGT3 | TF Sport | Corvette Z06.R | Hiroshi Koizumi/Sebastien Baud/Daniel Juncadella | 04’03.7 |
| 47 | 60 | LMGT3 | Iron Lynx | Lamborghini Huracan Evo2 | Claudio Schiavoni/Matteo Cressoni/Franck Perera | 04’06.5 |
| 48 | 85 | LMGT3 | Iron Dames | Lamborghini Huracan Evo2 | Sarah Bovy/Doriane Pin/Michelle Gatting | 3’56.5 |
| 49 | 87 | LMGT3 | Akkodis Asp Team | Lexus RC F | Takeshi Kimura/Esteban Masson/ | 3’56.6 |
| 50 | 59 | LMGT3 | United Autosports | McLaren 720S Evo | James Cottingham/Nicolas Costa/Gregoire Saucy | 3’56.7 |
| 51 | 46 | LMGT3 | Team WRT | BMW M4 | Ahmad Al Harthy/Valentino Rossi/Maxime Martin | 3’56.7 |
| 52 | 54 | LMGT3 | Vista AF Corse | Ferrari 296 | Thomas Flohr/Francesco Castellacci/Davide Rigon | 3’56.8 |
| 53 | 44 | LMGT3 | Proton Competition | Ford Mustang | Ryan Hardwick/Zacharie Robichon/Ben Barker | 3’56.8 |
| 54 | 31 | LMGT3 | Team WRT | BMW M4 | Darren Leung/Sean Gelael/Augusto Farfus | 3’56.9 |
| 55 | 91 | LMGT3 | Manthey EMA | Porsche 911 GT3 R | Yasser Shahin/Morris Schuring/Richard Lietz | 3’57.0 |
| 56 | 88 | LMGT3 | Proton Competition | Ford Mustang | Giorgio Roda/Mikkel Pedersen/Dennis Olsen | 3’57.2 |
| 57 | 81 | LMGT3 | TF Sport | Corvette Z06.R | Tom Van Rompuy/Rui Andrade/Charlie Eastwood | 3’57.3 |
| 58 | 95 | LMGT3 | United Autosports | McLaren 720S Evo | Joshua Caygill/Nicolas Pino/Marino Sato | 3’57.3 |
| 59 | 155 | LMGT3 | Spirit of Race | Ferrari 296 | Johnny Laursen/Conrad Laursen/Jordan Taylor | 3’57.3 |
| 60 | 78 | LMGT3 | Akkodis ASP Team | Lexus RC F | Arnold Robin/Timur Boguslavskiy/Kelvin Van Der Linde | 3’57.4 |
| 61 | 55 | LMGT3 | Vista AF Corse | Ferrari 296 | Francois Heriau/Simon Mann/Alessio Rovera | 3’58.3 |
| 62 | 86 | LMGT3 | GR Racing | Ferrari 296 | Michael Wainwright/Daniel Serra/Riccardo Pera | No time |
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