Le Mans Thursday Notebook

Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI

***There was high drama moments after the conclusion of Hyperpole 2, when Jack Aitken and Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA co-drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber celebrated the pole for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the top step of the Le Mans podium, only to find out several minutes later that Aitken’s time was disallowed and will start the race tenth, last position from the final top-ten shootout.

***A stewards’ decision stated that Aitken’s No. 38 Cadillac V-Series.R left the working lane to join the fast lane of pit lane before the race director’s instruction, as the cars gridded up for the start of the Hypercar pole-determining Hyperpole 2 session.

***It gave top qualifying honors to the No. 15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid of Dries Vanthoor, whose fast lap was just 0.005 seconds slower than Aitken. The Belgian driver claimed his second career Le Mans pole, his first coming in 2021 race at the wheel of a HubAuto Porsche 911 RSR-19 in the GTE-Pro class.

***BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos said they only became aware of the fact it had secured pole at the expense of Cadillac during the Hyperpole ceremony when the timing screen was updated to reflect that Aitken’s best lap had been scratched. It marked the German manufacturer’s first overall pole at Le Mans.

***Roos told reporters after qualifying: “I have to be honest, I didn’t expect we’d make it into Hyperpole 2, although it was clearly our goal. We managed in the end to be on pole, even if Dries was five-thousandths down on Jack Aitken, it’s nearly an equal lap time. It was nice to see we can really fight for pole.”

***He added: “In the end, we can be super happy with P1 and P4. We didn’t really concentrate on qualifying preparation, just on our long-run pace, the tires and so on, so it’s even nicer to see the single lap time is there. We’ll enjoy the moment, and we’ll enjoy it when we see the car on pole on Saturday, and we’ll go from there.”

***Aitken, meanwhile, called his deleted lap the result of a “procedural error” stating that it was “enjoyable for the 20 minutes that I had pole.” He added: “It does show that we had fantastic pace to be quickest, third quickest and three Cadillacs all in the Hyperpole 2. And, you know, even if we don’t get to start in the pole position, we’re still going to work our way through on the weekend and have shown that we have great pace.”

***Mathys Jaubert, who set the third quickest time in Hyperpole 1, revealed to Radio Le Mans’ Nick Daman that he was driving blind, with the lap times appearing on his dash. Co-driver Andre Lotterer qualified ninth, although the sister Genesis GMR-001 of Paul-Loup Chatin set to start sixth in the Korean manufacturer’s Le Mans debut. It came after an engine change for the No. 19 car earlier in the day.

***The No. 009 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Valkyrie of Roman De Angelis ended Hyperpole 2 as the top-placed LMH-based prototype in seventh, ahead of defending Hypercar world champion James Calado in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, the only other LMH car to make the final shootout.

***Esteban Masson claimed his first career WEC pole, doing so for a French team in Forestier Racing by Panis, which has a technical alliance with TDS Racing, in a French car in the Oreca 07 Gibson, while on home soil. However, the No. 29 entry will start from second on the grid in class after receiving a one-position grid penalty due to co-driver Louis Rousset having deemed to have impeded the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo in Wednesday’s qualifying session.

***Masson said he’s looking to avenge the team’s near miss in last year’s LMP2 race, when a last-minute suspension problem cost the team a likely class win. “Last year was frustrating, but it’s not like a ‘revenge’ feeling that I have,” he told Sportscar365. “It’s more like a hunger. I feel more hungry for this victory now. Inter Europol deserved it, we both deserved it, and hopefully this year Le Mans chooses us.”

***Ex-Formula 1 driver Jack Doohan expressed satisfaction at qualifying third in the LMP2 class on his Le Mans debut aboard the No. 27 Nielsen Racing Oreca. “The session was a little bit messier than I would have liked, but we have to be happy to finish towards the pointy end,” said the Australian. “We all want to be P1, we have a long 24 hours ahead of us and it won’t differ too much. A big thanks to the whole Nielsen team for pushing so hard and striving to get further up the grid.”

***Mattia Drudi became the fourth driver to claim two LMGT3 poles, joining Sarah Bovy, Eduardo Barrichello and Finn Gehrsitz. Both of the Italian’s class poles came at Le Mans, and on back-to-back occasions. “It’s nice. As I said last year, it’s not the most important thing for the race, but it’s nice to be there,” he said.

***It marked Aston Martin’s 71st pole across all WEC classes, which puts the British manufacturer equal with Porsche for the most in the world championship. Aston, meanwhile, became the first brand to achieve five LMGT3 poles.

***Genesis Magma Racing team principal Cyril Abiteboul revealed they are soon to take delivery of a full-scale car dyno that will “massively” reduce time in the GMR-001’s development. It is one of several resources, including a Driver-In-the-Loop simulator, that the manufacturer initially didn’t have at its disposal at the start of the year.

***When asked by Sportscar365 if the Genesis Hypercars will remain in the striking ‘Magma Orange’ colors for the remainder of the season, Abiteboul said: “Let’s see how successful we are with that Magma. Maybe we want to keep it forever, maybe we want to move to something else.”

***Renger van der Zande believes the fight for LMP2 and/or LMP2 Pro-Am class honors hasn’t necessarily been raised with the number of high-profile IMSA GTP drivers such as himself, Nick Yelloly, or Porsche stars Kevin Estre, Julien Andlauer or Laurin Heinrich, due to the sheer depth of talent already present.

***He told Sportscar365: “You cannot underestimate the level of drivers in LMP2 in general. So it will just add more good drivers, like [Matias] Beche or some other people that are LMP2 experts. We’re just jumping in for one race. I expect us to have a good go at it. In Pro-Am, you’re depending a lot on the Am. That’s dedicating a lot.”

***Van der Zande’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship co-driver Yelloly, who is in the defending LMP2 class-winning No. 43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 Gibson, believes LMP2 Pro-Am class entries could play a factor in the overall LMP2 pecking order.

***Yelloly said: “The TF car finished third overall last year with Louis, Dane and PJ. It very much depends on safety cars and hold that falls. If the Bronze has done their time early, then definitely they can be a big factor. And I know a couple of the cars have got super strong lineups, particularly with their pros, let’s see how it pans out.”

***Ferrari driver Davide Rigon said that things are “looking more difficult than we expected” for AF Corse in LMGT3 amid a lack of top-end speed on the Mulsanne Straight. Rigon was clocked with the 15th quickest time in the speed traps, at 292.3 km/h, in class, which was nearly 5 km/h down on the fastest car on the straights, the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

***Rigon, whose No. 54 car qualified 14th, said: “We are struggling on the second sector, the stops and starts. It’s our weak point, and there’s nothing we can do. On performance we have no chance, but we will try to be good on strategy. We are in the group, but five or six brands are quicker than us on lap time speed.”

***The Italian driver highlighted the importance of fuel-saving to try and give Ferrari a chance of a first GT win at Le Mans since 2021. “To match the others on lap time we have to burn a lot of fuel,” he said. “We are aiming for 11 laps a stint to avoid making an extra pit stop at the end, but it’s very difficult.”

***McLaren factory driver Benji Goethe said he’s not concerned by neither of the Garage 59’s cars progressing to the LMGT3 Hyperpole shootout and believes a strong result in the race is still possible after the No. 10 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo triumphed in the Spa WEC round and was on course for class victory at Imola before late alternator issues. He explained that co-driver Alexander West got blocked by a LMP2 car in the last sector while he was on a flyer in qualifying.

***Giuliano Alesi, the son of ex-Formula 1 racer Jean who is making his Le Mans debut aboard the No. 62 Team Qatar Iron Lynx Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo in LMGT3, admitted he’s stepping outside his comfort zone, having raced almost exclusively in Japan since 2021, although he knows the Mercedes-AMG from his time racing in Super Taikyu in 2024.

***The current Toyota SUPER GT driver told Sportscar365: “I accompanied my father throughout the race when he did it in 2010, so it’s a bit of deja vu for me. It’s really nice and special to be here. It has definitely been on my bucket list, and not just to do it once, but to be able to do it until the end of my career.”

***Alesi is part of a historic first Le Mans entry for Team Qatar, a program backed by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation that’s been active in sports car racing for the last three years, including a new partnership with Iron Lynx for this year’s European Le Mans Series season. A press conference was held on Thursday, featuring Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Latif Al Mannai, the president of QMFF and the Lusail International Circuit.

****The No. 62 Mercedes-AMG, which initially qualified 16th in class in the hands of Qatari Abdulla Al-Khelaifi, was promoted into Hyperpole 1 after the disqualification from the session of the Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette due to excessive wear on the rear diffuser strake height.

***QMMF is the official national governing body for motorsport in Qatar, operating under the umbrella of the FIA and FIM, and has recently played a role in promoting local talent to compete in international motorsport.

***While the 2027 WEC schedule will be released on Friday, with the expected inclusion of both Qatar and Bahrain on the calendar as part of both events’ long-term agreements, the status of the two races, which are currently scheduled to close out this year’s campaign in late October and early November, respectively, remains in flux.

***Sportscar365 understands that alternative venues in Europe have been lined up as possible replacements on this year’s calendar, should the geopolitical situation in the Middle East not improve. Barcelona and Monza have been the most talked about options, although a final decision on whether to revert to the backup plan is not expected to be announced until mid-July.

***Friday’s main track action will be the first-ever three-hour Road to Le Mans race, which gets underway at 10 a.m. CEST (4 a.m. EST) with live coverage on FIAWEC+. Off the track, the annual ACO press conference will bring a number of announcements, with separate news to come from both Ford and Genesis.

Jamie Klein & Stephen Lickorish contributed to this report

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