Ferdinand Habsburg fastest in 24H of Le Mans qualifying

First round of qualifying for the 24H of Le Mans saw Alpine fastest around Circriot de la Sarthe, with Ferdinand Habsburg behind the wheel. 

Hypercar

Ferdinand Habsburg in the #35 Alpine Hypercar set the fastest lap of the qualifying session on his last lap. With a lap of 3:23.135, Habsburg beat Deletraz in the #12 Cadillac by 0.013s. Jordan Taylor in the #101 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac topped off the top 3. 

It looked like the top two would belong to the Cadillac LMDh effort throughout the entire session, with Deletraz and Taylor setting consistently the fastest laps of the session. Habsburg set fastest on his last lap. The Alpine sister car, #36, finished 10th. Toyota has made it to Hyperpole for the first time since 2023.

The top 15 moves up to Thursday’s Hyperpole, with the #83 Ferrari and both Peugeot cars being knocked out of the second part of qualifying. The Peugeot Hypercar has never made it into Hyperpole in Le Mans as of date, with the #83 Ferrari missing out for the second time in a row.

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LMP2

Doriane Pin, the only female driver in the LMP2 category,  in the Duqueine-branded LMP2 car led most of the session, setting the fastest lap of the session of 3:34.662. Followed by Ian Aguliera in the #37 CLX Motorsport in second, and Bijoy Garg in #343 with InterEuropol Competition closing the top three. 

The top 15, with the top 10 being made up of solely silver-rated drivers, now progresses to Hyperpole for Thursday. 

GT3

In the LMGT3 category, it was Peter Dempsey in the Racing Team Turkey #34 Corvette who set the fastest lap of 3:55.744, closely followed by Eric Powell in the Proton Racing Competition #77 Ford GT3. Gray Newell in the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. 

“The most important part from today is to make it into Hyperpole 1. I’m happy, and it was a big step forward from where I was in FP1. Typical me, really, just piecing it together by the time we got to qualifying. 

I’m really happy. It’s the best I’ve felt in the car this weekend. Obviously, low tires and low fuel always feels good. Thanks to the team and everyone at Corvette for giving us the tools to do the job. I appreciate everything,” summarized Peter Dempsey, Corvette #34.

The top 15 of the session progress to Hyperpole for Thursday. 

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