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Lynn leads Le Mans front row sweep for Cadillac

For the first time since 1967, an American automaker has qualified on the pole position for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And for the first time in its history, it’s Cadillac, courtesy of a front-row lockout from new factory team Hertz Team JOTA, and led by the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R of Alex Lynn.

Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato will start on the pole with the No. 38 of Earl Bamber, Jenson Button and Sebastien Bourdais alongside, after Bamber qualified second in the final stage of Hyperpole qualifying tonight, where spectators witnessed the new, two-stage Hyperpole qualifying format in action. In the premier Hypercar class, 15 cars in Hyperpole 1 would battle to make the top 10 and progress to Hyperpole 2, for the right to battle for pole position.

And what drama it was from the first stage: Julien Andlauer in the No. 5 Penske Porsche sat on the best time when he lost his right-rear wheel at the end of a lap, and Jack Aitken in the No. 311 Whelen Cadillac took first place in H1 with a blistering lap of 3m22.742s – a new course record at Le Mans for the fledgling Hypercar class.

But the major upset from H1 was two of the three Ferrari 499Ps missing the top-10 cut for H2. 2023 winner Alessandro Pier Guidi had been pushed below the cut line at the checkered flag, and his final lap in the No. 51 Ferrari wasn’t quick enough to breach the top 10, just one-tenth slower than the No. 15 Team WRT BMW of Raffaele Marciello on the bubble.

The No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari also missed the cut – Ye Yifei was 13th behind the No. 35 Alpine A424 of Paul-Loup Chatin. Ricky Taylor used H1 as a test session for the No. 101 WTR Cadillac but didn’t make the top 10, and Marco Sorensen’s fairy tale run in the No. 009 Aston Martin Valkyrie ended with a 15th-place qualifying effort.

Mathieu Jaminet looked good to give Porsche Penske Motorsport back-to-back Le Mans poles with his benchmark time of 3m23.475s, but as the gold Cadillacs began to get heat into their tires, they were rapid. On their final flying laps, Lynn toppled Jaminet from the top spot with a 3m23.166s to take provisional pole with seconds remaining, and no other driver could surpass the Englishman.

“Any time you have the opportunity to drive this kind of car at Le Mans with low fuel, new tires, is an honor,” Lynn said after climbing out of the V-Series.R. “I’m proud to deliver for Cadillac. It’s a special feeling, a magical circuit and a place I like to perform my best. Now, just 24 hours. We will enjoy this tonight and get some rest.”

Bamber set a 3m23.333s to lock in second place for the “Mighty 38” Cadillac.

The No. 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 qualified third thanks to Jaminet, ahead of the No. 15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 in fourth thanks to Dries Vanthoor.

Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr’s quest for the unprecedented Triple Crown of endurance racing starts from fifth place in their No. 4 Penske Porsche, on the third row next to the No. 20 WRT BMW.

Antonio Fuoco’s best run in H2 was only good enough to put the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P in seventh, not where the reigning Le Mans winner had hoped to start. The No. 36 Alpine Endurance Team A424 was eighth, with the No. 311 Whelen Cadillac clocking in ninth thanks to Felipe Drugovich.

Sebastien Buemi’s pole hopes were dashed early when he locked up big time and slid off at Mulsanne Corner. When he rejoined he nearly collected Fuoco behind him, and a puncture left Buemi unable to set a time in the No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID.

HYPERCAR HYPERPOLE 1 RESULTS

HYPERCAR HYPERPOLE 2 RESULTS

The Hyperpole sessions for the so-called “lower categories” were no less intense. Veteran Mathias Beche gave the No. 29 TDS Racing ORECA 07-Gibson the pole position in LMP2, in the Pro/Am car he shares with Rodrigo Sales and Clement Novalak.

And in a slugfest featuring eight LMGT3 manufacturers, Mattia Drudi gave the Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 the pole position with a new course record for the category, putting the Italian at the front of the GT pack with owner/driver Ian James and Zacharie Robichon.

Mattia Drudi gave Heart of Racing’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 the pole position with a new course record for the category. Ker Robertson/Getty Images

“Of course, it’s difficult to have a super clean lap in Hyperpole. The car has behaved super nicely since Sunday. Qualifying is not the most important thing, but it’s good for us at Le Mans,” Drudi said. “It’s a good way to start my first Le Mans. Now we focus on the race.”

Inter Europol Competition’s Nick Yelloly and Team WRT’s Kelvin van der Linde led their respective classes in Hyperpole 1, but the real story out of the opening 20-minute session was the resurrection of Sean Gelael.

Completely stopped in a cut-out along the Mulsanne Straight with less than five minutes left, Gelael in the No. 95 United Autosports McLaren was able to restart his car – without bringing out a red flag – and had enough time for a final push lap. And with that lap, he bumped his way into the top eight in LMGT3, and pushed out the No. 193 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Ferrari of Christopher Froggatt.

“We were up two tenths, I did purple sector one … and then the car stopped,” said Gelael. “We had to do a restart but it didn’t work the first time so we had to pull over. Then the car restarted just in time to do the lap! Unfortunately, the lap was just enough to make it through… But what a roller coaster!”

Froggatt joined the No. 88 Proton Competition Mustang of Giammarco Levorato and the No. 59 United Autosports McLaren of Sebastien Baud, who missed the cut for H2. The No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari also failed to progress, after Francesco Castellacci spun in the Porsche Curves and beached his car in the gravel, which brought out a red flag with 11m16s left.

From LMP2, the two Algarve Pro Racing cars failed to advance – even the No. 45 driven by Nicky Catsburg. IDEC Sport’s sole-surviving No. 28 car driven by Sebastian Alvarez, and the No. 48 VDS Panis Racing car of Franck Perera, also did not make the top eight.

There were no incidents in Hyperpole, just teams trading the top spot all the way to the checkered flag.

United Autosports’ Ben Hanley, AO by TF’s Louis Deletraz, and Inter Europol’s Tom Dillmann took their turns at the front with not much to separate them, but at the checkered flag, Beche’s final lap of 3m35.062s usurped Dillmann for P1.

A proud moment for Mathias Beche and TDS Racing. Julien Delfosse/DPPI

“So much emotion tonight. The team did such a good job of delivering that car,” said Beche. “A big thanks to TDS Panis Racing. Without them, I couldn’t do that performance. I had a bit of traffic and knew I had one and a half tenths to gain back, but I believed it was my day. Today was the day, and it’s such a privilege to be here.”

Dillmann’s 3m35.333s was good enough to put the No. 43 Inter Europol ORECA in second, ahead of the No. 199 AO/TF car of Deletraz in third, and the No. 23 United Autosports car of Hanley in fourth, ahead of teammate Pietro Fittipaldi in the No. 22 United car.

Tom Blomqvist (No. 37 CLX Pure Rxcing), Matthieu Vaxiviere (No. 183 AF Corse) and Ryan Cullen (No. 16 RLR MSport) rounded out the running order in LMP2 Hyperpole 2.

As LMGT3 made it halfway into H2, Alessio Rovera in the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari set a new provisional course record, then improved on his next lap to a 3m53.085s. But behind him, Drudi in the Aston Martin was even faster still, putting in a 3m52.789s that wouldn’t be beaten once the clock hit zeroes.

Behind Drudi and Rovera, Valentino Rossi backed up van der Linde’s H1 run with third place in H2 for the No. 46 WRT BMW, and Maxime Martin was fourth fastest in the often-beleaguered No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG.

Completing the running order in LMGT3 H2 were Richard Lietz (No. 92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche), Rui Andrade (No. 81 TF Sport Corvette), Marino Sato (No. 95 United Autosports McLaren), and without a clean lap, Jack Hawksworth (No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus) was stuck down in eighth.

LMP2 & LMGT3 HYPERPOLE 1 RESULTS

LMP2 & LMGT3 HYPERPOLE 2 RESULTS

FULL QUALIFYING RESULTS

UP NEXT: The final, 60-minute Free Practice session before the 93rd annual Le Mans 24 Hours follows shortly, starting at 11pm local time.