Ferrari fastest in final practice, Glickenhaus springs into life

After the Hyperpole drama, the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans field was soon back in action for the final free practice session that began as darkness fell. The #777 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of D’Station Racing was among the batch of competitors entering the track at 22:00 to make the most of the 60 minutes of testing time after the major damage suffered yesterday afternoon in FP1. It was also the final chance for drivers who had not competed at Le Mans since 2018 to complete the mandatory number of night laps before the race.

With the Hypercar big-hitters sitting out the early stages, the first to show at the top of the standings were the Estebans – Guerrieri in the #4 Vanwall car and Gutierrez in the #709 Glickenhaus Racing machine. Alexander Sims joined in the fun in the #311 Cadillac entered by the Chip Ganassi-backed Action Express Racing, going under 3:29. When James Calado got involved in the #51 Ferrari 499P, he took just three laps to leapfrog the field with a time of 3:27.275.

In LMP2, the Racing Team Turkey Pro/Am team in the #923 Oreca led the way. The outfit had missed out on Hyperpole after Dries Vanthoor was penalised for speeding under a red flag in the qualifying session.

The #66 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of JMW Motorsport topped the LMGTE Am timesheets at the mid-point. The British team was also making up for the time lost in LMP1 following an accident in the Ford Chicane.

Red flag halts proceedings

French manufacturer Peugeot’s tough day got a lot tougher just after the halfway mark. The #93 9X8 came to a halt between the two chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight, forcing the marshals to deploy their yellow flags. Race control switched yellow to red to allow the recovery teams to remove the stricken Hypercar. The practice session was extended by 15 minutes to recoup the lost time, but while plenty of competitors went back out to put in a final flourish, the standings remained unchanged.

The runners and riders will have a welcome day off from track action tomorrow. They will head to Le Mans city centre to soak up the carnival atmosphere of the annual Drivers Parade.

Top five overall times in FP4

1. #51 Ferrari 499P | Ferrari AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi*/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi – 3:27.275
2. #709 Glickenhaus 007 | Glickenhaus Racing – Franck Maileux/Nathanael Berthon/Esteban Gutierrez – 3:28.278
3. #38 Porsche 963 | Hertz Team JOTA – António Félix da Costa/Will Stevens/Yifei Ye – 3:28.440
4. #6 Porsche 963 | Porsche Penske Motorsport – Kévin Estre/André Lotterer/Laurens Vanthoor – 3:28.457
5. #311 Cadillac V-Series.R | Action Express Racing – Luis Felipe Derani/Alexander Sims/Jack Aitken – 3:28.603

Fastest in the other classes

LMP2 – #923 Oreca 07-Gibson | Racing Team Turkey – Salih Yoluc/Tom Gamble/Dries Vanthoor – 3:36.229

LMGTE Am – #66 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | JMW Motorsport – Thomas Neubauer/Louis Prette/Jacomo Petrobelli – 3:52.965

Innovative Car – #24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 | Hendrick Motorsports – Jimmie Johnson/Mike Rockenfeller/Jenson Button – 03:51.903