BMW has taken pole position for the Le Mans 24 Hours after Cadillac was hit with a penalty.
BMW dominated Hyperpole 2, particularly with the No.15 car of Dries Vanthoor, Rafaelle Marciello and Kevin Magnussen. Vanthoor’s initial time of 3m22.745 seconds went unchallenged by the rest of the field for the majority of the session.
As the session neared its end, Vanthoor was over a second clear but was ultimately outdone by a resurgent Aitken, whose blistering final sector propelled him to pole by just 0.005s.
However, Aitken was later determined to have violated track limits on his final run, which led to the deletion of his time.
BMW inherited pole, while the No.38 Cadillac was relegated to 10th.
Earl Bamber did little to hide his frustration at seeing a crew stripped of pole position after the podium ceremony and described the incident as ‘disgusting’.
With everyone shuffling up a place, the No.12 Cadillac, driven by Will Stevens in Hyperpole 2, was elevated to second. Stevens looked to have the measure of the sister car for much of the session – until Aitken’s final run – but struggled in the final sector relative to the BMW.
Alpine was a prominent fixture in Hyperpole. The No.35 car was a consistent fixture in the top three, though Antonio Felix da Costa was unable to keep pace with Vanthoor and lost out to the Cadillac’s late charge. They will share the second row with the championship-leading No.20 BMW.
The No.101 Cadillac will line up fifth. Genesis has marked its first Hyperpole appearance with its best qualifying performance to date. The No.19 car secured sixth, ahead of the No.009 Aston Martin and No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse. The second No.17 Genesis underlined the team’s form by taking ninth.
After struggling for pace in Hyperpole 1, the No.50 and 51 Ferraris were left in the drop zone. A commendable final run from Antonio Giovinazzi yielded a spot in Hyperpole 2, however Antonio Fuoco made a mistake at the final chicane and was locked into 11th.
Hyperpole 1 had its fair share of high-profile casualties. Behind the No.51 Ferrari, No.007 Aston Martin and No.36 Alpine, both Toyotas struggled for pace throughout.
Ryo Hirakawa in the No.8 car aborted his final lap, while the No.7 car could only manage 14th. Mike Conway later attributed the result to track limits and traffic, but reiterated in TR010 Hybrid’s long run pace.
The two Peugeots were ruled out of contention on Wednesday and will start 16th and 18th, while last year’s winning No.83 AF Corse Ferrari will start 17th.
In LMP2, the No.28 Forestier Racing took looked to have taken pole thanks to Esteban Masson, whose best lap was over two seconds quicker than last year’s pole time. However, the Forestier Racing car was found to have impeded No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren 570S GTR Evo in initial qualifying on Wednesday and was handed a one-place grid penalty.
It will therefore start second behind the No.28 IDEC Sport car of Paul Lafargue, Valerio Rinicella and Job van Uitert. The No.24 car of Nielsen Racing will start third ahead of the No.43 Inte Europol Competition.
In LMGT3, the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin will start on pole having outpaced the No.21 Vista AF Corse.
The Akkodis ASP Lexus’ will start third and fourth despite the No.78 having an issue with its door that allowed for just two flying laps in Hyperpole 2.
After failing to get off the back row of the grid with its LMP2 entry, DK Engineering were able to progress to Hyperpole 2 with its LMGT3 entry.
The No.91 car will start ninth.Thursday has had no shortage of drama.
Cadillac and BMW both seem to be streaks ahead of established frontrunners Ferrari and Toyota over one lap. However, with last year’s winner having come from 13th on the grid, tomorrow’s race is far from settled.
The 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans will begin on the 13th of June at 15:00.
BMW has taken pole position for the Le Mans 24 Hours after Cadillac was hit with a penalty.
BMW dominated Hyperpole 2, particularly with the No.15 car of Dries Vanthoor, Rafaelle Marciello and Kevin Magnussen. Vanthoor’s initial time of 3m22.745 seconds went unchallenged by the rest of the field for the majority of the session.
As the session neared its end, Vanthoor was over a second clear but was ultimately outdone by a resurgent Aitken, whose blistering final sector propelled him to pole by just 0.005s.
However, Aitken was later determined to have violated track limits on his final run, which led to the deletion of his time.
BMW inherited pole, while the No.38 Cadillac was relegated to 10th.
Earl Bamber did little to hide his frustration at seeing a crew stripped of pole position after the podium ceremony and described the incident as ‘disgusting’.
With everyone shuffling up a place, the No.12 Cadillac, driven by Will Stevens in Hyperpole 2, was elevated to second. Stevens looked to have the measure of the sister car for much of the session – until Aitken’s final run – but struggled in the final sector relative to the BMW.
Alpine was a prominent fixture in Hyperpole. The No.35 car was a consistent fixture in the top three, though Antonio Felix da Costa was unable to keep pace with Vanthoor and lost out to the Cadillac’s late charge. They will share the second row with the championship-leading No.20 BMW.
The No.101 Cadillac will line up fifth. Genesis has marked its first Hyperpole appearance with its best qualifying performance to date. The No.19 car secured sixth, ahead of the No.009 Aston Martin and No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse. The second No.17 Genesis underlined the team’s form by taking ninth.
After struggling for pace in Hyperpole 1, the No.50 and 51 Ferraris were left in the drop zone. A commendable final run from Antonio Giovinazzi yielded a spot in Hyperpole 2, however Antonio Fuoco made a mistake at the final chicane and was locked into 11th.
Hyperpole 1 had its fair share of high-profile casualties. Behind the No.51 Ferrari, No.007 Aston Martin and No.36 Alpine, both Toyotas struggled for pace throughout.
Ryo Hirakawa in the No.8 car aborted his final lap, while the No.7 car could only manage 14th. Mike Conway later attributed the result to track limits and traffic, but reiterated in TR010 Hybrid’s long run pace.
The two Peugeots were ruled out of contention on Wednesday and will start 16th and 18th, while last year’s winning No.83 AF Corse Ferrari will start 17th.
In LMP2, the No.28 Forestier Racing took looked to have taken pole thanks to Esteban Masson, whose best lap was over two seconds quicker than last year’s pole time. However, the Forestier Racing car was found to have impeded No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren 570S GTR Evo in initial qualifying on Wednesday and was handed a one-place grid penalty.
It will therefore start second behind the No.28 IDEC Sport car of Paul Lafargue, Valerio Rinicella and Job van Uitert. The No.24 car of Nielsen Racing will start third ahead of the No.43 Inte Europol Competition.
In LMGT3, the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin will start on pole having outpaced the No.21 Vista AF Corse.
The Akkodis ASP Lexus’ will start third and fourth despite the No.78 having an issue with its door that allowed for just two flying laps in Hyperpole 2.
After failing to get off the back row of the grid with its LMP2 entry, DK Engineering were able to progress to Hyperpole 2 with its LMGT3 entry.
The No.91 car will start ninth.Thursday has had no shortage of drama.
Cadillac and BMW both seem to be streaks ahead of established frontrunners Ferrari and Toyota over one lap. However, with last year’s winner having come from 13th on the grid, tomorrow’s race is far from settled.
The 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans will begin on the 13th of June at 15:00.
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