Kubica Quickest in Opening Le Mans Test Session

Photo: MPS Agency

Robert Kubica led the way in the opening session at the 24 Hours of Le Mans test day, putting the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P out front.

The Polish driver’s best lap of 3:27.010 came roughly halfway through the first three hours of running at Circuit de la Sarthe, outpacing Brendan Hartley’s No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid by 0.990 seconds.

The No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac of Earl Bamber was third quickest, 1.481 seconds adrift from the leading Ferrari.

Bamber’s time came late in the final 40 minutes of the session, which bumped Jack Aitken’s 3:28.923 lap time in the No. 311 Action Express Racing Cadillac to fourth at the time, prior to a last-lap improvement by Antonio Giovanazzi in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari that further demoted Aitken to fifth.

An early flyer by Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 ended up good enough for sixth on the overall timesheets.

The No. 20 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid was seventh, followed by the No. 50 AF Corse entry of Antonio Fuoco in eighth.

Kamui Kobayashi’s 3:29.277 set early in the session held up for ninth for Toyota, with the No. 5 Penske Porsche completing the top-ten in Hypercar.

Patrick Pilet topped the time sheets in LMP2, in his No. 16 RLR MSport-entered Oreca 07 Gibson.

It was 0.260 seconds quicker than the No. 37 CLX – Pure Rxcing Oreca of Tom Blomqvist, who was second.

LMGT3 was led by the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3 of Jose Maria Lopez, thanks to a 3:57.109 by the Toyota factory driver early in the running.

The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 was second in class on the time charts, followed by the sister No. 78 ASP Lexus in third.

The session saw an early Full Course Yellow for debris, followed by a sizable accident for Luca Ghiotto, who went off in the Porsche Curves in the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca.

It resulted in a nearly 50-minute safety car procedure, which included a full wave-by exercise.

The other car to hit trouble was the CrowdStrike-backed No. 45 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca, which ventured out late in the session after undergoing an engine change.

The second and final test session runs from 3:30-6:30 p.m. CET. (9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. EST).

RESULTS: Test Session 1

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John