With the dust barely settled after a fast and frantic finale to the Hyperpole, the final free practice for the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans got underway as dusk fell. Each team had its own priorities. For some, it was important to ensure that their drivers completed the mandatory five night-laps after sitting out on Wednesday. For others, it was a case of checking fuel consumption and analysing stint lengths by sending their machines out with a full tank. However, it was important for all protagonists to avoid any issues or incidents that would jeopardise their place on the grid on Saturday afternoon.

The two Toyota GR010 Hybrids were immediately out on track to affirm their authority after locking out Saturday’s front row in the Hyperpole exercise. José María López and Sébastien Buemi wasted no time in setting sub-3:30 laps before the other three Hypercars had left the pits. The Japanese manufacturer comfortably saw out the remainder of the session with no further concerns.

Shortly before the halfway point, the DKR Engineering #3 Oreca and the JOTA #38 Oreca spun in the Ford chicane. After Sébastien Page suffered a collision in the #39 Oreca earlier in the day, team-mate David Droux had no better luck, going straight on into the gravel at Mulsanne Corner. Not the best of days for the Graff Racing outfit.

After an engine change after just ten laps of Free Practice 3, the Panis Racing #65 Oreca returned to the track in this night session to put it through its paces. A 3:32.422 time on its fifth lap will have reassured the Tech 1 Racing team partnering Panis Racing. The #23 Oreca of United Autosports USA was fastest in this session.

Corvette Racing continued to show strongly in the LMGTE Pro class, recording the top two times in this night session, followed by the two Porsche 911 RSR-19s. A shade over half a second separated the four machines, promising a fascinating battle at the weekend.

The Porsche 911 RSR-19s of Dempsey-Proton Racing were fastest around the 13.626-km circuit with the #77 car two-tenths quicker than the #88. They were followed by the two AF Corse Ferraris. The #61 came to a halt shortly after moving into third place in the session, but manged to make it back to the pits as the session drew to a close.

Five cars did not take part in the final free practice session: the #13 TDS Racing X Vaillante LMP2 challenger, the #74 Riley Motorsports Ferrari, and the #33, #46 and#777 Aston Martin Vantages of TF Sport, Team Project 1 and D’Station Racing respectively.

How they stood in FP4

Hypercar

1. #7 Toyota GR010-Hybrid – Toyota Gazoo Racing – Conway/Kobayashi/López – 3:28.322
2. #8 Toyota GR010-Hybrid – Toyota Gazoo Racing – Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa – 3:28.684
3. #709 Glickenhaus 007 LMH – Glickenhaus Racing – Briscoe/Westbrook/Mailleux – 3:30.822
    

LMP2

1. #23 Oreca 07-Gibson – United Autosports USA – Lynn/Jarvis/Pierson – 3:32.226
2. #65 Oreca 07-Gibson – Panis Racing – Canal/Jamin/ van Uitert – 3:32.422
3. #28 Oreca 07-Gibson – JOTA – Rasmussen/Jones/Aberdein – 3:32.588
    

LMGTE Pro

1. #63 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – Corvette Racing – García/Taylor/Catsburg – 3:52.710
2. #64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – Corvette Racing – Milner/Tandy/Sims – 3:52.731
3. #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 – Porsche GT Team – Bruni/Makowiecki/Lietz – 3:53.123
    

LMGTE Am

1. #77 Porsche 911 RSR-19 – Dempsey-Proton Racing – Ried/Priaulx/Tincknell – 3:55.067
2. #88 Porsche 911 RSR-19 – Dempsey-Proton Racing – Poordad/Root/Heylen – 3:55.265
3. #61 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – AF Corse – Prette/Abril/Grunewald – 3:55.323
    

All 62 cars will officially return to the track on Saturday for the official warm-up ahead of the 16:00 start of the 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans.