The #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P shined brightest in the darkness this evening by stopping the timer at 03:25.523 - almost one second quicker than anyone else in Free Practice 4.

<p>The shortest session of the week and the final dress rehearsal before the big one&hellip; the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This was the last chance for all 62 teams to finalise their set-ups and give drivers the maximum amount of time behind the wheel before the race.&nbsp; Run under the cloak of darkness, the short-sharp Free Practice 4 came hot off the back of a dramatic Hyperpole session.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Hypercar</h2>

<p>The #83 Ferrari 499P in the hands of AF Corse were 0.933 clear of the #50 factory car from Ferrari AF Corse and the #311 Cadillac of preparation firm Whelan. Being knocked out in Hyperpole 1 earlier tonight - the yellow Ferrari didn&rsquo;t have the true outright pace in qualifying trim, but yet again featured in the top-five cars in Free Practice sessions once again - putting together a case that they could challenge for a win this weekend.</p>

<p>Pole sitters #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA can be proud of their nights work in sixth - positioned just behind the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 in fifth and sister #38 Cadillac in fourth.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>LMP2</h2>

<p>Mechanical gremlins worked their way into the #23 United Autosports ORECA down the Mulsanne with Daniel Schneider trying to recycle and restart the LMP2 car, but had to pull over. Under poor lightning conditions, Race Control covered the recovery with a Full Course yellow in the final 10 minutes of the session.</p>

<p>#48 VDS Panis Racing had their moment of glory as they stood on the summit of the final Free Practice table of the week while class pole sitters #29 TDS Racing feel as ready as they can be with second quickest on the stopwatch. #183 AF Corse also feel like they have a car that can challenge in race trim this weekend as they bookended the rostrum in third.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>LMGT3</h2>

<p>The 60-minute session ran almost without incident, except for a brief Yellow Flag and Slow Zone within the first 10 minutes. The #63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG stopped on the exit of the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight. Once rescued the session was clear to proceed.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
Akkodis ASP Team didn&rsquo;t feature anywhere near the front in Hyperpole. Perhaps the #87 and #78 Lexus&rsquo; can handle the heavy fuel loads and tyre wear effectively giving them an all round solid performing race car? Only time will tell. The #87 Lexus ended the night fastest on the timesheet ahead of a chasing #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage and #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari who recovered from a FP3 visit to the graveltrap with a third in FP4 this evening.</p>

<h4><u>Free Practice 4: Top 5 Classification:</u></h4>

<p>1. Ferrari 499P #83 AF Corse &ndash; Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson - 03:26.523<br />
2. Ferrari 499P #50 Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina - 03:27.456<br />
3. Cadillac V-Series.R #311 Cadillac Whelen &ndash; Jack Aitken / Felipe Drugovich / Frederik Vesti - 03:27.780<br />
4. Cadillac V-Series.R #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA &ndash; Earl Bamber / S&eacute;bastien Bourdais / Jenson Button - 03:27.893<br />
5. Porsche 963 #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport &ndash; K&eacute;vin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell - 03:27.919</p>

<h4><u>Free Practice 4: Fastest times in the LMP2 and LMGT3 categories:</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>Oreca 07-Gibson #48 Panis Racing &ndash; Oliver Gray / Esteban Masson / Franck Perera - 03:38.302</li>
	<li>Lexus RC F LMGT3 #87 Akkodis ASP Team &ndash; Petru Umbrarescu / Jos&eacute; Mar&iacute;a L&oacute;pez / Clemens Schmid - 03:55.057</li>
</ul>

<p>Tomorrow sees two support class races in the form of the Porsche Sprint Challenge and Ford Mustang Challenge as well as plenty for the fans to enjoy off track, including the Fan Village, Open Track and Drivers Parade in the centre of Le Mans.</p>

<p>The next time we see the 24 Hours of Le Mans crews will be Saturday for a brief 15-minute Warm-up before the race starts at 16:00 local time.</p>

AF Corse Ferrari a dark horse for success after dominant FP4 result

Golden hour produced a golden performance from the gold Hertz Team JOTA Cadillacs, as British driver Alex Lynn with a 03:23.166 stole the show in the #12 V-Series R to take pole for the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans. Lynn leads a Hyperpole front-row lockout for the American brand, with the sister #38 car of Earl Bamber slotting in just 0.167 behind.

<ul>
	<li><u><strong>Hypercar : </strong></u>Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA &ndash; Will Stevens / Norman Nato / Alex Lynn &ndash; 03.23.166</li>
	<li><u><strong>LMP2 :</strong></u> Oreca 07-Gibson #29 TDS Racing &ndash; Rodrigo Sales / Mathias Beche / Cl&eacute;ment Novalak (LMP2 Pro/Am) &ndash; 03.35.062</li>
	<li><u><strong>LMGT3 : </strong></u>Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 #27 Heart Of Racing &ndash; Ian James / Mattia Drudi / Zacharie Robichon &ndash; 03.52.789</li>
</ul>

<p>All eyes were on the track. Circuit de la Sarthe came to a standstill for the Hyperpole sessions following the climatic qualifying session yesterday evening - whetting&nbsp;the appetite for tonight&#39;s feast. Hyperpole 1 was to reduce the Hypercars to 10 and LMGT3 and LMP2 to eight a piece before Hyperpole 2, which was to be a no-holds-barred, final shootout. - Quickest would seal the&nbsp;2025&nbsp;Hyperpole. With that in mind,&nbsp;teams went to war with each other and the clock.</p>

<h2>Hypercar</h2>

<p>In Hyperpole 1 - the fastest 15 cars from Wednesday went head-to-head in low fuel qualifying trim and sparks were to fly! The #5 Porsche which went quickest in FP3 earlier today set the benchmark on the first round of competitive flying laps with a 03:23:979 yardstick. The second flying lap, and the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 and #50 Ferrari 499P looked to also be on the pace - all three within a tenth of a second.</p>

<p>Drama was to unravel in the first Hyperpole as the #5 Porsche that was top of the times on the approach to the pitlane lost the rear-right wheel in dramatic fashion - luckily making it into the final session&hellip; just!</p>

<p>Alpine gave the home fans hope, as Mick Schumacher was top of the tree before a wave of times came through. First, the #20 BMW, then the #38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac and befre too long, Jack Aitken led Hyperpole 1 in the #311 Whelan development Cadillac with a blistering target of 03:22.742.<br />
<br />
Sadly for British fans, the lone #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie could only manage 15th. Joining the Aston Martin Thor Team on the sideline for the final session was the #101 WTR Cadillac, #35 Alpine and perhaps the biggest shock of the week so far - the #83 AF Corse Ferrari that had been at the sharp end in many of the sessions and 2023 winners - the #51 Ferrari AF Corse also did not make the final cut.</p>

<p>In Hyperpole 2, S&eacute;bastien Buemi at the wheel of the #8 Toyota had his heart in his mouth as the Toyota struggled to stop coming into one of the biggest braking zones in world motorsport - the run to the bottom of the Mulsanne. Luckily, the gravel trap slowed his progress, and he was able to dart out of the loose surface and rejoin the race track - but this excursion&nbsp;denied Le Mans legend Toyota a shot at the top spot in 2025.</p>

<p>The stage was all for Cadillac. Alex Lynn showed his Wednesday qualifying pace wasn&rsquo;t a flash in the pan and rocketed to the summit of the times with a remarkable 03:23.166. Teammate Earl Baber was tenth at&nbsp;this point -&nbsp;the pressure was on!&nbsp;&nbsp;The New Zealander dug deep and almost matched his British stablemate, bu tit was enough to&nbsp;solidify&nbsp;a front row lock-out for the American marque for the first time in Le Mans history.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em><strong>&ldquo;Everytime you get the chance to drive a low fuel Hypercar at Le Mans is an honour and privilege, and to do it in front of this crowd is special,&rdquo;</strong> said a jubilant <strong>Alex Lynn</strong>. <strong>&ldquo;Cadillac has worked so hard and fully deserves this result. It&rsquo;s a special feeling to do it on a magical night and magical circuit such as Le Mans - a place I love. Now we only have 24 hours to do! A good sleep tonight and reset for the big one Saturday.&rdquo;</strong></em></p>

<h2>LMP2 and LMGT3&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Nerves began to jangle as a Red Flag was called upon to safely rescue the #54 Vista AF Ferrari LMGT3 at the Porsche Curves - stopping the clock with a little over 11 minutes left. Meanwhile the #78 Akkodis ASP&nbsp;Team Lexus took a trip through the gravel at the Dayonta chicane on the Mulsanne straight.&nbsp;</p>

<p>When the session went green it was a straight fight in LMP2 between the #199 AO by TF and #22 United Autosports cars for top-spot until the #43 Inter Europol Competition performed a textbook run to gap the pack by 0.641 seconds. Leaving the party in Hyperpole 1 were #28 IDEC Sport, #45 Algarve Racing, #48 VDS Panis Racing and the other Algarve Pro Racing machine - this time the #25.</p>

<p>In LMGT3 the #46 Team WRT completed Hyperpole 1 on top - a carbon copy of qualifying 24 hours ago, giving Valentino Rossi a shot at going for pole, while the #81 TF Sport Corvette showed a step-up in pace just three tenths behind. Sean Gelael in the #95 United Autosports McLaren 720S was the last car on the road and with a last chance saloon run threw caution to the wind to pop into the final Hyperpole 2 spot - dumping out the #193 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Ferrari 296, #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang, #54 Vista AR Corse Ferrari 296 and sister #59 McLaren 720S which was last seen parked up on an access road on the Mulsanne straight.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Taking it up a notch in intensity and knocking five minutes off the clock&nbsp; - Hyperpole 2. Four different cars all occupied the top position, with each crossing the line in dramatic fashion. #29 TDS Racing who went fastest in FP3 this afternoon held their nerve to go overall fastest with a terrific run by Mathias Beche, however celebrations where put on hold as Louis Deletraz made it past the timing beam before the clock hit zero - all eyes were on Deletraz and Spike - the dragon liveried #199 AO by TF car. Green sector times put him in the hunt - but a few spectacular power slides on cooked tyres could only put the purple car in third behind the #43 Inter Europol Competition car of Tom Dillmann.</p>

<p>In LMGT3 Valentino Rossi couldn&rsquo;t make it a hatrick of session topping performances, but a spirited run in the infamous #46 BMW run by WRT saw them clock third behind the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari in second and a jubilant Heart of Racing who took a historic pole position for their #27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3.</p>

<h4><u>The ten best Hypercars at the end of Hyperpole :</u></h4>

<p>1. Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA &ndash; Will Stevens / Norman Nato / Alex Lynn &ndash; 03.23.166<br />
2. Cadillac V-Series.R #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA &ndash; Earl Bamber / S&eacute;bastien Bourdais / Jenson Button &ndash; 03.23.333<br />
3. Porsche 963 #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport &ndash; Julien Andlauer / Michael Christensen / Mathieu Jaminet &ndash; 03.23.475<br />
4. BMW M Hybrid V8 #15 BMW M Team WRT &ndash; Dries Vanthoor / Raffaele Marciello / Kevin Magnussen &ndash; 03.23.659<br />
5. Porsche 963 #4 Porsche Penske Motorsport &ndash; Felipe Nasr / Nick Tandy / Pascal Wehrlein &ndash; 03.23.983<br />
6. BMW M Hybrid V8 #20 BMW M Team WRT &ndash; Rene Rast / Robin Frijns / Sheldon van der Linde &ndash; 03.24.009<br />
7. Ferrari 499P #50 Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina &ndash; 03.24.213<br />
8. Cadillac V-Series.R #311 Cadillac Whelen &ndash; Jack Aitken / Felipe Drugovich / Frederik Vesti &ndash; 03.24.380<br />
9. Alpine A424 #36 Alpine Endurance Team &ndash; Mick Schumacher / Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Makowiecki / Jules Gounon &ndash; 03.24.398<br />
10. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing &ndash; S&eacute;bastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa &ndash; No time</p>

<h4><u>The eight best LMP2s at the end of Hyperpole:</u></h4>

<p>1. Oreca 07-Gibson #29 TDS Racing &ndash; Rodrigo Sales / Mathias Beche / Cl&eacute;ment Novalak (LMP2 Pro/Am) &ndash; 03.35.062<br />
2. Oreca 07-Gibson #43 Inter Europol Competition &ndash; Jakub Smiechowski / Tom Dillmann / Nick Yelloly &ndash; 03.35.333<br />
3. Oreca 07-Gibson #14 AO by TF &ndash; PJ Hyett / Dane Cameron / Louis Del&eacute;traz (LMP2 Pro/Am) &ndash; 03.35.421<br />
4. Oreca 07-Gibson #23 United Autosports &ndash; Daniel Schneider / Oliver Jarvis / Benjamin Hanley (LMP2 Pro/Am) &ndash; 03.35.459<br />
5. Oreca 07-Gibson #22 United Autosports &ndash; Renger Van Der Zande / Pietro Fittipaldi / David Heinemeier Hansson &ndash; 03.35.615<br />
6. Oreca 07-Gibson #37 Cool Racing &ndash; Aliaksandr Malykhin / Tom Blomqvist / Tristan Vautier &ndash; 03.36.184<br />
7. Oreca 07-Gibson #183 AF Corse &ndash; Fran&ccedil;ois Perrodo / Matthieu Vaxiviere / Antonio Felix Da Costa (LMP2 Pro/Am) &ndash; 03.36.993<br />
8. Oreca 07-Gibson #16 RLR M Sport &ndash; Michael Jensen / Ryan Cullen / Patrick Pilet (LMP2 Pro/Am) &ndash; 03.38.922</p>

<h4><u>The eight best LMGT3s at the end of Hyperpole:</u></h4>

<p>1. Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 #27 Heart Of Racing &ndash; Ian James / Mattia Drudi / Zacharie Robichon &ndash; 03.52.789<br />
2. Ferrari 296 LMGT3 #21 Vista AF Corse &ndash; Fran&ccedil;ois Heriau / Simon Mann / Alessio Rovera &ndash; 03.53.085<br />
3. BMW M4 LMGT3 #46 Team WRT &ndash; Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin Van Der Linde &ndash; 03.54.966<br />
4. Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 #61 Iron Lynx &ndash; Martin Berry / Lin Hodenius / Maxime Martin &ndash; 03.54.998<br />
5. Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm &ndash; Ryan Hardwick / Riccardo Pera / Richard Lietz &ndash; 03.55.140<br />
6. Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R #81 TF Sport &ndash; Tom Van Rompuy / Rui Andrade / Charlie Eastwood &ndash; 03.55.740<br />
7. McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo #95 United Autosports &ndash; Darren Leung / Sean Gelael / Marino Sato &ndash; 03.55.965<br />
8. Lexus RC F LMGT3 #78 Akkodis ASP Team &ndash; Arnold Robin / Jack Hawksworth / Finn Gehrsitz &ndash; 4.03.660</p>

<p>The track action doesn&rsquo;t stop there. The final Free Practice session - FP4 starts at 23:00 local time for some final moonlight magic before the big day. Join us for the final dress rehearsal before the big one.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Golden performance, as Cadillac lock-out front row for 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans

Road To Le Mans, Porsche Sprint Challenge France and Ford Mustang Challenge are the three competitions accompanying the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first races were run today (Thursday).

<h2>ROAD TO LE MANS Race 1 &ndash; victory for CLX MotorsporT</h2>

<p>As the race began, Hugo Schwarze and Luciano Moreno were side-by-side into the first turn at the Dunlop Chicane. Moreno went straight on, leaving the lead to the #85 car on the Mulsanne Straight. However, Schwarze made a mistake at the second chicane and found himself behind the two Ligiers of Forestier Racing by VPS (#29 and #92). L&eacute;na B&uuml;hler (#50) was in fifth position at that point. The safety car was called into action before the first lap had ended. The #4 Adess AD25 with Mikkel Kristensen at the wheel had stopped at Indianapolis while 18-year-old Valerio Rinicella in the #12 Duqueine D09 had also at a standstill at the entry to the Porsche Curves.</p>

<p>When the race resumed, Vincent Abril retained the GT3 lead (#52 Ferrari 296 GT3), while, in LMP3, Romain Favre chose the right moment to avoid issues with the sister car. The pack had stretched out by the following lap. The #52 Ferrari soon buckled under the pressure applied by the #5 McLaren (Bradley Ellis) and the #65 Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Lukas Dunner).</p>

<p>As the refuelling window opened (mandatory two-minute stoppage), Favre held a 3.5-second advantage over Moreno in second place. Ten minutes later, as the pit lane closed, R-ace GP&rsquo;s Hadrien David (#85 Duqueine D09) moved to the head of the field. He was chased by two CLX Motorsport cars driven by Adrien Closmenil and David Droux. David attempted valiantly to close all doors, but the #37 Ligier JS P325 with Closmenil on board moved ahead on entering the Porsche Curves.</p>

<p>At the top of the LMP3 Pro/Am class, Felipe Fernandez-Laser (#71) received a warning for track limit infringements. The German had no further margin for error, as stipulated in <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/eduardo-freitas-explains-the-24-hours-of-le-mans-track-limits-59741">the track limit regulations</a>.</p>

<p>With just 10 minutes left on the clock, the second CLX Motorsport car, driven by Droux, got the better of David: a one-two was in sight for the team run by Nicolas Lapierre! The latter stages of the race was all about the battle for fifth place between Charles Roussanne (#92), Louis Rousset (#29) and Rik Koen (#8 Team Virage), but none of these drivers were able to mount a serious attack and they crossed the finish line in that order.</p>

<h4><u>LMP3 Top Five</u></h4>

<p>1. #37 Ligier JS P325 | CLX Motorsport (Closm&eacute;nil/Jensen) | 14 laps</p>

<p>2. #85 Duqueine D09 | R-ace GP (Schwarze/David) | +8.161</p>

<p>3. #16 Ligier JS P325 | Team Virage (Lehmann/Micouris) | +13.860</p>

<p>4. #92 Ligier JS P325 | Forestier Racing by VPS (Morano/Roussanne) | +14.468</p>

<p>5. #29 Ligier JS P325 | Forestier Racing by VPS (Rousset/Favre) | +15.533</p>

<h4><u>The other class winners</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>LMP3 Pro/Am: #71 Ligier JS P325 | Rinaldi Racing (Aust/Fernandez-Laser)</li>
	<li>GT3: #14 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Getspeed (Jans/Bartone)</li>
</ul>

<p>The 58-strong Road To Le Mans field will be back in action on Saturday morning (10:05) for the start of Race 2!</p>

<h2>Victor Blugeon wins an exciting Porsche Sprint Challenge France race&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Two qualifying sessions for the Porsche Sprint Challenge France contest were held early this morning on a wet track. In the first which fixed the grid positions for the first heat, Louis Meric (#31 Porsche 911 type 992 GT3 Cup), clocked the fastest time. Despite Meric starting the first 45-minute race in pole position, ABM&rsquo;s Victor Blugeon (#74 Porsche) emerged from the first turn in the lead and confirmed his status as favourite. Only Meric managed to keep the pressure on the 992 GT3 Cup leader, even managing to overtake him on the Mulsanne Straight. At the end of the first lap, the two men held a two-second advantage over their closest rivals. The tense battle offered an opportunity to Enzo Jouli&eacute; (#97 Porsche, Martinet by Almeras) to move closer and pose a threat.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The tussle paused for a while after a three-car accident resulted in a safety car. The drivers involved Jonathan Beeson (#55 Porsche, Graves Motorsport), St&eacute;phane Perrin (#888 Porsche, Lajoux Racing), and Alexandr Artemyev (#10 Porsche, Schumacher IMSA).</p>

<p>Once the debris had been cleared from the Dunlop Chicane exit, the race resumed with a shade over 20 minutes left on the clock. Meric took advantage to regain control, but Blugeon and Jouli&eacute; were hot on his heels. The other Lajoux Racing machine, the #992 Porsche driven by Michael Blanchemain, had stopped just after the Dunlop Footbridge. A slow zone held up the competitors there but, once through Tertre Rouge, they were flying again. Blugeon used all his talent to gradually get the better of Meric before the latter dropped down the standings. Jouli&eacute; grabbed second place as a second safety car was deployed. Shortly after, Race Control brought out the red flag and brought the race to an early conclusion.</p>

<p>Blugeon won the first heat ahead of Jouli&eacute; and Cl&eacute;ment Loeul. Lucas Glinche (#72 Porsche GT4 RS, Glinche Racing) continued his hot streak, taking the honours in his category after finishing on top of the pile in all the previous sessions.</p>

<h2>Mustangs in the starting blocks</h2>

<p>Despite topping the timesheets in free practice, Robert Noaker will not start from pole position in the two rounds of the Mustang Challenge on Friday and Saturday. Despite clocking the fastest lap, Noaker saw all his times wiped out as the splitter height did not comply with the required minimum. Could this aerodynamic appendage, located under the front bumper, be partly responsible for the American driver&rsquo;s outstanding performances since the festivities began?</p>

<p>Cameron McLeod will therefore lead out the Mustang Dark Horse R pack. Timed at 4:23.180, he edged out Sam Paley (4:23.587) and Marco Signoretti (4:23.839). The 39-car grid will line up at 11:00 on Friday morning for the first 45-minute race, before a second round at 8:45 on Saturday morning.</p>

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Support race results for Thursday 12 June

The Porsche Penske Motorsport squad have burst to the top for the first time during the 24 Hours of Le Mans week with the #5 heading home a pair of chasing Cadillacs. The German outfit turning on the pace ahead of the Hyperpole session later this evening.

<p>The final Free Practice session in the daylight - can you believe we are at that time in the week already! Rain downpours this morning in the Le Mans area evaporated as quickly as it came, the 62 cars in the early segment of Free Practice 3 helped lay down some of the rubber washed away with the rain that morning.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Hypercar</h2>

<p>2023 centenary event winners, the #51 Ferrari AF Corse outfit set the early benchmark in the first hour - with Antonio Giovinazzi becoming the first driver under the 03:25 mark on his second flying lap, as the track showed signs of coming to life early - only six tenths off the Free Practice 1 best 24 hours earlier.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the final 35 minutes the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 with Mathieu Jaminet at the controls showed the track was ready for some quick times ahead of Hyperpole - going almost a second quicker than Giovinazzi&rsquo;s time with a 03:24.717.</p>

<p>Will Stevens in the #12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac followed suit slotted into second with five minutes left of FP3 before teammate Earl Bamber leapfrogged the #12 with the #38 sister. Cadillac showing last nights qualifying marker was no flash in the pan Fourth would be bestowed to the #51 Ferrari AF Corse team, as the ever present yellow #83 AF Corse Ferrari completed the top five.</p>

<h2>Finding the limits&hellip;</h2>

<p>The first incident came in the first hour. A Slow Zone at the&nbsp;final corner was thrown as Thomas Flohr was hustling the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 over the curbs at the Ford chicane in search of bettering his time, but took too curb at Raccordement - the final corner and dropped the LMGT3 car into the gravel trap. Fast work by the rescue team and marshals got the stricken Ferrari back on the road for the session to continue.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>After briefly crossing into the second hour, Jonas Ried in the #9 Iron Lynx ORECA LMP2 - missed his braking point and locked up heading into Indianapolis corner - heading straight on into the tyre barrier. The incident brought out a Slow Zone in that sector for the rescue mission to begin. Within a matter of minutes, the LMP2 car was grabbed and placed back on all four wheels. Limping the #9 machine back to the pitlane - it was apparent the tracking and steering had been knocked out of alignment.</p>

<p>Celia Martin in the #83 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 got broadside on the exit of the Daytona chicane, carrying too much speed. Bearing down and closing fast was the #37 CLX - Pure Racing LMP2 car, which darted out of the path of the Porsche, but went headfirst into the barriers in the process. Simultaneously, the #183 AF Corse ORECA went off-roading - riding through the gravel trap and safely through the other side at the Porsche Curves. Both incidents warranted a Red Flag to help give the marshals time to sweep up the debris and repair the tyre barriers.</p>

<p>In the final hour, the #93 Peugeot 9X8 was seen crawling back to the pits with a nervous Peugeot TotalEnergies crew looking on. On its return to the pits, the car was fired into the air and spun into the garage and panels quickly pulled off for the mechanics to get to work and solve the problem.</p>

<p>Toyota on the other hand were very industrious this afternoon - with the #8 entry achieving the most amount of laps with 45 in total. That equates to 613km under the belts in one three-hour sitting!&nbsp;</p>

<h2>LMP2</h2>

<p>In the prototype class, the #29 TDS Racing ORECA set the pace with Rodrigo Sales at the helm - taking the FP3 crown from the #23 United Autosports version of the ORECA late in the three-hour session. Inter Europol Competition are always competitive in the one-make formula, and they placed their #43 representative in third ahead of the #22 United Autosports car with &lsquo;Spike&rsquo; aka the AO by TF LMP2 in fifth.</p>

<p>The #28 IDEC Sport team had a heart-racing moment in the final 12 minutes when one of the wheels sheared off the ORECA and rolled into the gravel trap, throwing a late Slow Zone. Luckily - Job Van Uitert didn&rsquo;t have far to get the car back for the team to debrief over the three-wheeled wagon.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<h2>LMGT3</h2>

<p>United Autosports were in line for a double at one point in the session with representation at the top in both LMP2 and LMGT3. The McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo run by United Autosports, which carries the iconic #59 which was worn by its McLaren F1 ancestor to its 1995 win could only manage sixth at the flag. Taking the honour of top GT was the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin - stealing the top spot in a smash and grab raid on the last lap. The #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm Porsche team, who were on top for so long had to settle for second with Richard Lietz pipping the so far dominant #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus team. Racing Spirit of Leman showed Aston Martins wirth with fourth ahead of the #46 Team WRT BMW.<br />
<br />
The #63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG which spent all night in the garage being rebuilt surfaced in FP3 with the team in silver shaking down the front engined monster to begin with before chalking up 30 laps LMGT3 machine.&nbsp;</p>

<h4><u>Free Practice 3: Top 5 Classification:</u></h4>

<p>1. Porsche 963 #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport &ndash; Julien Andlauer / Michael Christensen / Mathieu Jaminet - 3:24.717<br />
2. Cadillac V-Series.R #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA &ndash; Earl Bamber / S&eacute;bastien Bourdais / Jenson Button - 3:25.533<br />
3. Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA &ndash; Will Stevens / Norman Nato / Alex Lynn - 3:25.609<br />
4. Ferrari 499P #51 Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi - 3:25.705<br />
5. Ferrari 499P #83 AF Corse &ndash; Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson - 3:26.322</p>

<h4><u>Free Practice 3: Fastest times in the LMP2 and LMGT3 categories:</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>
	<p>Oreca 07-Gibson #29 TDS Racing &ndash; Rodrigo Sales / Mathias Beche / Cl&eacute;ment Novalak (LMP2 Pro/Am) - 3:36.827</p>
	</li>
	<li>
	<p>Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 #27 Heart Of Racing &ndash; Ian James / Mattia Drudi / Zacharie Robichon - 3:55.897</p>
	</li>
</ul>

<p>Next up - Hyperpole knockout sessions with Hyperpole 1 and Hyperpole 2 starting at 20:00 local time with the Award Ceremony at 22:00 - just as the sun finally begins to set. We end the day once again with some nighttime running. Free Practice 4 will bring the curtain down on proceedings at 23:00 with an hour on the clock for one last dress rehearsal.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Porsche opens Le Mans account with fastest in FP3 ahead of Cadillac and Ferrari

<p style="text-align: center; ">
	<img class="imgVideo" id="373" src="/wpphpFichiers/video/373-patrick-dempsey-before-mazda-raceway-laguna-seca-race.jpg" /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">
	On the pre-grid of the third round of the American Le Mans Series 2012 last Saturday, 10th May, the driver/actor expressed his pleasure in participating in this race after two very intense weeks of preparation this first entryof the Lola-Judd of Dempsey Racing in LM P2, with Patrick Dempsey, Joe Cocker and Jonny Foster at the wheel. Driver and co-owner of the team, Foster (in the background on the right in the video above) took the start of the race.<br />
	&nbsp;</h2>


24H LE MANS

Video : Patrick Dempsey at Laguna Seca

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Porsche opens Le Mans account with fastest in FP3 ahead of Cadillac and Ferrari

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