24h Le Mans
The first session of Test Day came to a close at 1pm. The 62 cars competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary put in a good morning’s work. The #50 Ferrari 499P fielded by Ferrari AF Corse excelled but it was more of a mixed bag for Peugeot TotalEnergies and Toyota Gazoo Racing.
At 10 o’clock this morning, it was 18°C with a track temperature of 20.6°C. Conditions were therefore ideal for the drivers throughout this first session. The #22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson was first to take to the track.
The teams made the most of their first three hours of track time to get their bearings and start tuning their cars. Incidents of note included a run into the gravel trap for the #45 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07-Gibson at the Dunlop chicane, and a spin for the #39 Graff Racing Oreca 07-Gibson at the Daytona chicane. The #21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo suffered a puncture, which gave race management a chance to test the new safety car procedure designed to reduce gaps on track.
At 12.19pm, the #93 Peugeot 9X8 from Peugeot TotalEnergies came to a halt on the Mulsanne Straight, plagued by mechanical issues. At the same time, the track marshals reported a fire on the #88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19, so Race Control decided to neutralise the session with the red flag.
Practice resumed at 12.44pm, but at 12.58pm the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid driven by Mike Conway spun off track at the Forest Esses. Another red flag was waved, bringing the morning session to an end.
Competitors in the Hypercar class (the top class the 24 Hours of Le Mans) gradually stepped up the pace. The first significant lap time was set by the #93 Peugeot 9X8 driven by Mikkel Jensen with 3:32.764. Then the Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #3 driven by Renger Van Der Zande took the lead with 3:32.073. In the end, it was the #50 Ferrari 499P that toped the standings at the end of the morning. Italian driver Antonio Fuocco clocked a lap at 3:30.686. As a reminder, last year the #7 Toyota recorded the fastest Test Day time at 3:29.896.
The #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Chevrolet ZL1, fielded in the Innovative Car class, put in a splendid performance. Drivers Jimmie Johnson, Mike Rockenfeller and Jenson Button completed a series of laps and set a time of 3:56.880, which places the car among the best in LMGTE Am. It’s a first glimpse of what the Nascar can do, and the car is definitely a standout addition to the Centenary line-up.
The car that completed the most laps was the #28 Oreca 07-Gibson from Jota, which went around the track 35 times.
1. #50 Ferrari 499P - Ferrari AF Corse – Nicklas Nielsen/Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina - 3:30.686
2. #94 Peugeot 9X8 - Peugeot TotalEnergies - Loïc Duval/Gustavo Menezes/Nico Müller - 3:31.346
3. #38 Porsche 963 - Hertz Team Jota - Antonio Felix Da Costa/Will Stevens/Yifei Ye - 3:31.477
4. #51 Ferrari 499P - Ferrari AF Corse - Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi - 3:31.636
5. #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid - Toyota Gazoo Racing - Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/José María López - 3:31.856
LMP2: #47 Oreca 07-Gibson - Cool Racing - Reshad de Gérus/Vladislav Lomko/Simon Pagenaud - 3:36.409
LMGTE Am: #66 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo - JMW Motorsport - Thomas Neubauer/Louis Prette/Giacomo Petrobelli - 3:56.623
#24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 - Hendrick Motorsports - Jimmie Johnson/Mike Rockenfeller/Jenson Button - 3:56.880
The cars will be back out at 3.30pm for a further three hours’ track time. In the meantime, browse through a few images from the track and pits in the photo gallery below.
