Cadillac Sweeps Top Two in First 24H Le Mans Practice

Cadillac swept the top two spots in opening official practice session for this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, as Earl Bamber set the fastest time aboard the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA entry ahead of first qualifying on Wednesday.

Bamber registered a best effort of 3:23.786 with around 20 minutes remaining of the three-hour session, easily surpassing the benchmark set in last year’s FP1 session and coming within just over seven tenths of a second of last year’s pole time.

The Kiwi driver, who had earlier taken the top spot with a 3:24.773, the first sub-3:25 lap of the week at the Circuit de la Sarthe, ended up 1.582 seconds clear of the WTR Cadillac, which led much of the session after a first-hour flyer from Jordan Taylor.

The session wasn’t entirely problem-free for the No. 38 car, however, as it was brought into the garage early to repair floor damage sustained from curb usage.

Cadillac looked on course for a top-three lockout heading into the closing moments of the session, until Rene Rast recorded a 3:25.533 inside the final ten minutes to jump up to third, 1.747 seconds off the pace, and demote the No. 12 JOTA Cadillac to fourth.

The No. 12 car had spent a lengthy period in the pits to address a brake pedal issue before Will Stevens set the car’s best time, 2.247 seconds shy of Bamber.

Completing the top five was the No. 35 Alpine A424 in which Ferdinand Habsburg set the best time of 3:26.078, fractionally behind Stevens.

The respective best cars from Toyota and Ferrari were next up, Brendon Hartley putting the No. 8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid sixth ahead of Antonio Fuoco’s No. 50 Ferrari 499P.

Both Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Valkyries made the top ten, the No. 009 Aston Martin Valkyrie of Alex Riberas leading the sister No. 007 car of Tom Gamble, split by the No. 17 Genesis GMR-001 in which Pipo Derani made a late jump up the order.

Peugeot was therefore the only manufacturer not to breach the top ten, the better of its two 9X8s ending up 16th.

Yifei Ye suffered an off at Mulsanne corner aboard the satellite No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari, but was able to get back to the pits without taking significant damage.

There was further drama just as the session was about to end as Frederic Makowiecki hit the barriers approaching Tertre Rouge, stopping on track soon after.

In LMP2, Peugeot development driver Doriane Pin set the fastest time at the wheel of her No. 30 Duqueine Team Oreca 07 Gibson.

Pin ended up seven tenths clear of the field thanks to her late effort of 3:35.248, which deposed the IDEC Sport car of Valerio Rinicella from the top of the times.

In the closing minutes, Porsche factory star Kevin Estre put the No. 14 TDS Racing Oreca up to second on a 3:35.958, with Rinicella staying third thanks to the 3:36.189 he set in the No. 28 car in the opening part of the session.

AO by TF was fourth-fastest with Dane Cameron at the wheel, while Gregoire Saucy made a late jump to fifth in the No. 22 United Autosports car.

Jack Hawksworth led the way in LMGT3 aboard the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 with a best time of 3:55.737 laid down in the early running.

That was enough to shade Augusto Farfus in the No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO by exactly a tenth of a second, while Dan Harper was just one thousandth of a second behind in the sister No. 69 BMW to slot into third.

Julian Hanses was a surprise fourth in the No. 62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, followed by Charlie Eastwood in the best of the TF Sport-run Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs, the Racing Team Turkey-branded No. 34 car.

First qualifying for the 24H Le Mans begins at 6:45 p.m. local time (12:45 p.m. EST).

RESULTS: Free Practice 1