Ferrari AF Corse has locked out the front row for the 100th anniversary running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, after Antonio Fuoco and Alessandro Pier Guidi produced blistering times in the team’s pair of 499Ps during tonight’s Hyperpole session. It was a landmark result for the Italian manufacturer, which will start the French endurance classic from pole for the first time since 1973.
The two works drivers traded provisional pole times during the 30-minute session, with Pier Guidi in the No. 51 setting an astonishing 3m23.897s benchmark time on his first flying lap. This easily eclipsed the 2022 pole time (a 3m24.408s by the No. 8 Toyota) and was the first time of the week to dip under 3m24s.
After Pier Guidi set the bar, Fuoco in the No. 50 made it his mission to raise it, and with eight minutes left set a remarkable 3m22.982s. This was an improvement of almost a second, putting him 0.7s up on his teammate. What was most impressive was that the lap was set despite the Italian losing time at Indianapolis when he came up behind the No. 57 Kessel Ferrari on the entry to the slow left-hander.
Fuoco’s lap was also nearly a full second faster than the previous qualify ing lap record set in the admittedly young history of the Le Mans Hypercar class, a 3m23.900s, set by the Toyota GR010 HYBRID in 2021.
“It was a really good lap, really tough qualifying. My first lap was slower than the sister car, then I put it all together. It’s something special, to be honest!” Fuoco said. “I want to enjoy the moment, then we will think about the race.”
While the Ferraris were pushing for improvements, the remaining six cars in Hypercar were also pushing to challenge the 499Ps. Kamui Kobayashi in the No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID was on course to move up the order from fourth, but halfway through his most promising flying lap local hero Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 3 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R stopped on the Mulsanne Straight, with the rear end of his car on fire. Replays showed the car briefly bursting into flames before the fire settled under the car.
Thankfully Bourdais was able to climb out of the car unharmed. It was a major blow for Cadillac though, after it had opted to change the engines on all three of its V-Series.Rs earlier in the day to ensure its fleet had fresh motors for Hyperpole and the race. Adding to the misery was the news that filtered through shortly after that Bourdais’ best time, a 3m24.908s that briefly put him third overall, would be deleted by regulation because he caused a red flag. As a result, the car dropped to eighth (last) by the end of the session, with its best time a 3m25.521s.
Cadillac Racing engineers have determined that a burst high pressure fuel hose caused the fire, and Cadillac Racing and Dallara engineers and the Chip Ganassi Racing crew are working to prepare the car for the race.
When the session went green again, Ferrari AF Corse opted to stay in the garage, confident they wouldn’t improve. On the other end of pit lane, Toyota sent both GR010 HYBRIDs out for a final stand, but neither Kobayashi nor Brendon Hartley in the No. 8 sister car could split the Ferraris or come close to pole. In fact, no Hypercar came within a second of pole-setting No. 50.