Calado Leads Gutierrez in Final Practice

James Calado set the pace in the fourth and final Free Practice session for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Calado steered the No. 51 Ferrari 499P to a best lap of 3:27.275 in the second of two night practice sessions at the Circuit de La Sarthe.

Esteban Gutierrez came second aboard the No. 709 Glickenhaus 007 Pipo, a second down on Calado but 0.162 seconds clear of the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963 driven by Will Stevens.

Kevin Estre slotted into fourth position in the No. 6 Porsche, dropping Action Express Racing’s Alexander Sims to fifth position.

Sims’ No. 311 Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R led the session early, but ended up rounding out the top five and 1.328 seconds down.

The No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Mike Conway sat in sixth, ahead of the No. 50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco.

A late flying lap of 3:28.935 by the Hypercar polesitter dropped the No. 93 Peugeot 9X8 of Jean Eric Vergne to eighth.

Vergne’s session was brought to an early end when the car came to a halt on the Mulsanne Straight with electrical issues.

It triggered a red flag that lasted for 19 minutes, after which the session was extended by 15 minutes.

The top ten was completed by Michael Christensen’s No. 5 Porsche and the No. 2 Cadillac in the hands of Alex Lynn.

Dries Vanthoor paced LMP2 aboard the No. 923 Racing Team Turkey Oreca 07 Gibson, setting a 3:26.229 to top the class.

The Belgian driver outpaced the No. 65 Panis Racing Oreca of Job van Uitert by 0.421 seconds, with Prema’ Mirko Bortolotti third.

JMW Motorsport led a Ferrari 1-2 in GTE-Am, courtesy of a best lap of 3:52.965 by Thomas Neubauer aboard the No. 66 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.

Kessel Racing’s Scott Huffaker took second, while Alessio Picariello completed the top three in the No. 60 Iron Lynx Porsche 911 RSR-19.

All but three cars set times during the 60-minute session. In GTE-Am, both ORT by TF and the No. 911 Proton Competition Porsche remained in the garage.

The No. 3 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac also did not appear on track after it suffered a fire during Hyperpole, which was triggered by a high pressure fuel hose that had burst.

With all practice sessions now completed, drivers will return to the track for the pre-race warmup at 12 p.m. CEST (6:00 a.m. ET) on Saturday.

RESULTS: Free Practice 4