The #38 Cadillac set the pace in the opening free practice session for the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Earl Bamber setting a 3:23.786 to go quickest.
Cadillac took a 1-2 at the front, with #101 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac’s Jordan Taylor second, but he was more than 1 and a half seconds off Bamber at the front of the field.
BMW’s Rene Rast was third fastest in the #20 BMW, less than two tenths off Taylor.
Fourth was the third Cadillac, the #12 of Will Stevens, while fifth was the top Alpine, the #35 of Ferdinand Habsburg.
The fastest LMH-rules car in the Hypercar class was only sixth fastest, the #8 Toyota of Brendon Hartley. The fastest Ferrari sat just behind, the #50 of Antonio Fuoco.
Pin, Hawksworth top LMP2, LMGT3 at Le Mans
In LMP2, #30 Duqueine Oreca’s Doriane Pin led the way, with a 3:35.248. Second was Porsche superstar Kevin Estre, racing in LMP2 for the first time at Le Mans, in the #14 TDS Racing Oreca. However, he was more than 7 tenths off Pin ahead. Third was #28 IDEC Sport’s Valerio Rinicella, a further 2 and a bit tenths off Estre.
Jack Hawksworth set the LMGT3 pace in the #78 ASP Lexus, with a 3:55.737. The two BMW WRT cars were second and third, Augusto Farfus in the #32 WRT BMW exactly a tenth off Hawksworth, followed by Dan Harper in the #69, a thousandth off a second from his factory BMW driver teammate.
The session ran cleanly for the most part, although it was opened almost immediately by Theodor Jensen beaching the #37 CLX Oreca in the gravel at the Forest Esses. This caused a slow zone that escalated into a brief full course yellow while the car was pushed back on track by the marshals.
Qualifying begins 6:45pm local time, followed by Hyperpole for all three classes tomorrow evening. See the full session results on the WEC website.
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