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Autosport
Autosport
James Newbold

Le Mans 24 Hours: Calado puts Ferrari top in final practice session

Taking over the #51 Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar that Alessandro Pier Guidi drove to second in Hyperpole, Calado whisked to a time of 3m27.275s shortly before Jean-Eric Vergne’s #93 Peugeot 9X8 LMH brought out the red flags when it stopped between the two Mulsanne Chicanes.

The one-hour session was restarted with 20 minutes still on the clock, but there were few noteworthy improvements thereafter as Calado’s benchmark time held.

Calado was 1.003s faster than Esteban Gutierrez in the Le Mans-only #709 Glickenhaus-Pipo 007 that will start the World Endurance Championship blue ribband from 14th.

Gutierrez was in turn 0.162s faster than the Jota Porsche 963 LMDh campaigned by Will Stevens, which missed qualifying on Wednesday due to an electronic problem.

Kevin Estre improved to fourth after the red flag in the best of the factory Penske-run Porsches, his #6 machine usurping the Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Alexander Sims.

Jose Maria Lopez completed the top six in the leading Toyota GR010 HYBRID, 1.648s down on Calado, while a late effort from polesitter Antonio Fuoco in the second Ferrari secured him seventh in the #50 machine that didn’t set a time prior to the stoppage.

Vergne was shuffled back to eighth ahead of Michael Christensen’s #5 Penske Porsche as Richard Westbrook completed the top 10 in WEC full-season Ganassi Cadillac.

Tom Dillmann’s early effort aboard the Vanwall Vandervell 680 slotted him into 11th, ahead of Romain Dumas in the second Glickenhaus and Mathieu Jaminet’s #75 Porsche.

#75 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr, Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy (Photo by: Marc Fleury)

The #7 Toyota likewise only appeared in the final third of the session and ended up 14th in Sebastien Buemi's hands ahead of the #93 Peugeot campaigned by Loic Duval.

After a burst high pressure fuel hose caused a fire in Hyperpole, the #3 Ganassi Cadillac didn’t turn a lap.

The LMP2 pace was set by Dries Vanthoor’s TF Sport-run Racing Team Turkey ORECA-Gibson 07 as the BMW factory driver stormed to the top of the timesheets.

Vanthoor logged a 3m36.229s aboard the pro-am entry to beat Job van Uitert by 0.421s in the ORECA fielded by Panis Racing.

After a late effort from Prema’s Mirko Bortolotti secured the fastest time in Wednesday evening’s FP2 session, the Lamborghini factory driver repeated the trick to move into third in the dying minutes of the session.

That demoted Tom Blomqvist to fourth in the #23 United Autosport entry, as Ben Barnicoat (AF Corse) and Pietro Fittipaldi’s pole-contending Jota machine rounded out the top six.

LMP2 polewinners IDEC Sport ended up 14th with Laurents Horr setting its best time.

#66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of Thomas Neubauer, Louis Prette, Giacomo Petrobelli (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

An early lap from Thomas Neubauer in the repaired JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE Evo secured the top spot in GTE Am.

The Frenchman, in the car crashed during opening practice by Louis Prette, beat Ferrari factory driver Daniel Serra’s Kessel example to the top spot by 0.104s with a 3m52.965s lap.

Alessio Picariello shuffled up the order into third in the closing stages aboard his Iron Lynx Porsche 911 RSR-19 ahead of fellow late improver Jan Heylen’s Proton example, as polewinner Corvette Racing’s works-entered C8.R ended up sixth with Nicolas Varrone at the wheel.

Le Mans 24 Hours - FP4 results

Cla # Drivers Car Class Laps Time Gap Interval
1 51 United Kingdom James Calado
Italy Antonio Giovinazzi
Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi
Ferrari 499P HYPERCAR 16 3'27.275    
2 709 France Nathanael Berthon
Mexico Esteban Gutierrez
France Franck Mailleux
Glickenhaus 007 LMH HYPERCAR 17 3'28.278 1.003 1.003
3 38 Portugal Antonio Felix da Costa
United Kingdom Will Stevens
China Ye Yifei
Porsche 963 HYPERCAR 14 3'28.440 1.165 0.162
4 6 France Kevin Estre
Germany Andre Lotterer
Belgium Laurens Vanthoor
Porsche 963 HYPERCAR 12 3'28.457 1.182 0.017
5 311 United Kingdom Jack Aitken
Brazil Pipo Derani
United Kingdom Alexander Sims
Cadillac V-Series.R HYPERCAR 11 3'28.603 1.328 0.146
6 7 United Kingdom Mike Conway
Japan Kamui Kobayashi
Argentina Jose Maria Lopez
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid HYPERCAR 15 3'28.923 1.648 0.320
7 50 Italy Antonio Fuoco
Spain Miguel Molina
Denmark Nicklas Nielsen
Ferrari 499P HYPERCAR 9 3'28.935 1.660 0.012
8 93 United Kingdom Paul di Resta
Denmark Mikkel Jensen
France Jean-Eric Vergne
Peugeot 9X8 HYPERCAR 7 3'29.053 1.778 0.118
9 5 United States Dane Cameron
Denmark Michael Christensen
France Frédéric Makowiecki
Porsche 963 HYPERCAR 15 3'29.371 2.096 0.318
10 2 New Zealand Earl Bamber
United Kingdom Alex Lynn
United Kingdom Richard Westbrook
Cadillac V-Series.R HYPERCAR 11 3'29.948 2.673 0.577
11 4 France Tom Dillmann
Argentina Esteban Guerrieri
France Tristan Vautier
Vanwall Vandervell 680 HYPERCAR 16 3'30.115 2.840 0.167
12 708 Australia Ryan Briscoe
France Romain Dumas
France Olivier Pla
Glickenhaus 007 LMH HYPERCAR 17 3'30.202 2.927 0.087
13 75 France Mathieu Jaminet
Brazil Felipe Nasr
United Kingdom Nick Tandy
Porsche 963 HYPERCAR 8 3'30.534 3.259 0.332
14 8 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi
New Zealand Brendon Hartley
Japan Ryo Hirakawa
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid HYPERCAR 11 3'30.616 3.341 0.082
15 94 France Loic Duval
United States Gustavo Menezes
Switzerland Nico Müller
Peugeot 9X8 HYPERCAR 14 3'30.881 3.606 0.265
16 923 United Kingdom Tom Gamble
Belgium Dries Vanthoor
Turkey Salih Yoluc
Oreca 07 LMP2 14 3'36.229 8.954 5.348
17 65 Netherlands Tijmen van der Helm
Venezuela Manuel Maldonado
Netherlands Job Van Uitert
Oreca 07 LMP2 16 3'36.650 9.375 0.421
18 63 Italy Mirko Bortolotti
Russian Federation Daniil Kvyat
France Doriane Pin
Oreca 07 LMP2 16 3'36.904 9.629 0.254
19 23 United Kingdom Tom Blomqvist
United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
United States Josh Pierson
Oreca 07 LMP2 16 3'36.964 9.689 0.060
20 80 United Kingdom Ben Barnicoat
France Norman Nato
France François Perrodo
Oreca 07 LMP2 15 3'37.126 9.851 0.162
21 28 Brazil Pietro Fittipaldi
Denmark David Heinemeier Hansson
Denmark Oliver Rasmussen
Oreca 07 LMP2 12 3'37.351 10.076 0.225
22 9 United States Juan Manuel Correa
Romania Filip Ugran
Netherlands Bent Viscaal
Oreca 07 LMP2 16 3'37.360 10.085 0.009
23 22 Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
United Kingdom Philip Hanson
United Kingdom Frederick Lubin
Oreca 07 LMP2 15 3'37.407 10.132 0.047
24 31 Netherlands Robin Frijns
Indonesia Sean Gelael
Austria Ferdinand Habsburg
Oreca 07 LMP2 16 3'37.877 10.602 0.470
25 37 Switzerland Alexandre Coigny
Denmark Malthe Jakobsen
France Nicolas Lapierre
Oreca 07 LMP2 13 3'38.241 10.966 0.364
26 14 Switzerland Mathias Beche
United Kingdom Ben Hanley
United States Rodrigo Sales
Oreca 07 LMP2 9 3'38.637 11.362 0.396
27 47 France Reshad de Gerus
Russian Federation Vlad Lomko
France Simon Pagenaud
Oreca 07 LMP2 16 3'38.714 11.439 0.077
28 43 Belgium Maxime Martin
Belgium Tom Van Rompuy
Belgium Ugo de Wilde
Oreca 07 LMP2 14 3'38.760 11.485 0.046
29 48 France Paul-Loup Chatin
Germany Laurents Hörr
France Paul Lafargue
Oreca 07 LMP2 12 3'38.777 11.502 0.017
30 36 France Julien Canal
France Charles Milesi
France Matthieu Vaxiviere
Oreca 07 LMP2 16 3'38.972 11.697 0.195
31 41 Portugal Rui Andrade
Switzerland Louis Deletraz
Poland Robert Kubica
Oreca 07 LMP2 16 3'39.064 11.789 0.092
32 39 Netherlands Giedo van der Garde
Italy Roberto Lacorte
France Patrick Pilet
Oreca 07 LMP2 12 3'39.155 11.880 0.091
33 34 Spain Albert Costa
Switzerland Fabio Scherer
Poland Jakub Smiechowski
Oreca 07 LMP2 15 3'39.211 11.936 0.056
34 30 Austria Rene Binder
Switzerland Neel Jani
Chile Nicolas Pino
Oreca 07 LMP2 15 3'39.376 12.101 0.165
35 10 France Gabriel Aubry
Ireland Ryan Cullen
Liechtenstein Matthias Kaiser
Oreca 07 LMP2 16 3'40.079 12.804 0.703
36 45 Australia James Allen
United States Colin Braun
United States George Kurtz
Oreca 07 LMP2 15 3'40.689 13.414 0.610
37 13 Germany René Rast
United States Ricky Taylor
United States Thomas Steven
Oreca 07 LMP2 16 3'40.822 13.547 0.133
38 32 Denmark Anders Fjordbach
United States Mark Kvamme
Denmark Jan Magnussen
Oreca 07 LMP2 7 3'42.853 15.578 2.031
39 35 United Kingdom Olli Caldwell
Brazil Andre Negrao
Mexico Memo Rojas
Oreca 07 LMP2 14 3'43.623 16.348 0.770
40 24 United Kingdom Jenson Button
United States Jimmie Johnson
Germany Mike Rockenfeller
Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 INNOVATIVE CAR 12 3'51.903 24.628 8.280
41 66 France Thomas Neubauer
Italy Giacomo Petrobelli
Louis Prette
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 13 3'52.965 25.690 1.062
42 57 United States Scott Huffaker
Japan Takeshi Kimura
Brazil Daniel Serra
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 15 3'53.069 25.794 0.104
43 60 Italy Matteo Cressoni
Belgium Alessio Picariello
Italy Claudio Schiavoni
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 12 3'53.316 26.041 0.247
44 16 United States Ryan Hardwick
Belgium Jan Heylen
Canada Zacharie Robichon
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 15 3'53.419 26.144 0.103
45 56 Italy Matteo Cairoli
United States PJ Hyett
United States Gunnar Jeannette
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 13 3'53.439 26.164 0.020
46 33 Netherlands Nick Catsburg
United States Ben Keating
Nicolas Varrone
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R LMGTE AM 13 3'53.624 26.349 0.185
47 54 Italy Francesco Castellacci
Switzerland Thomas Flohr
Italy Davide Rigon
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 15 3'53.652 26.377 0.028
48 21 France Simon Mann
Belgium Ulysse De Pauw
France Julien Piguet
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 15 3'53.721 26.446 0.069
49 88 Germany Jonas Ried
United Kingdom Harry Tincknell
United States Don Yount
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 8 3'53.745 26.470 0.024
50 98 United Kingdom Ian James
Italy Daniel Mancinelli
Spain Alex Riberas
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 14 3'53.861 26.586 0.116
51 86 United Kingdom Benjamin Barker
Italy Riccardo Pera
United Kingdom Michael Wainwright
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 14 3'53.912 26.637 0.051
52 85 Belgium Sarah Bovy
Switzerland Rahel Frey
Denmark Michelle Gatting
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 14 3'54.423 27.148 0.511
53 83 Argentina Luis Perez Companc
Italy Alessio Rovera
France Lilou Wadoux
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 9 3'54.602 27.327 0.179
54 55 Denmark Gustav Birch
Denmark Jens Reno Moller
Denmark Marco Sorensen
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 13 3'57.318 30.043 2.716
55 74 Japan Kei Cozzolino
Japan Yorikatsu Tsujiko
Japan Naoki Yokomizo
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 8 3'59.031 31.756 1.713
56 100 Indonesia Andrew Haryanto
United States Chandler Hull
United States Jeff Segal
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 9 4'00.451 33.176 1.420
57 777 Japan Tomonobu Fujii
Japan Satoshi Hoshino
United Kingdom Casper Stevenson
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 14 4'01.206 33.931 0.755
58 72 France Valentin Hasse-Clot
Arnold Robin
Maxime Robin
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 14 4'01.606 34.331 0.400
59 77 France Julien Andlauer
Germany Christian Ried
Mikkel Pedersen
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 13 4'07.309 40.034 5.703
60 3 France Sébastien Bourdais
New Zealand Scott Dixon
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
Cadillac V-Series.R HYPERCAR 0      
61 25 United Kingdom Ahmad Al Harthy
United States Michael Dinan
Ireland Charles Eastwood
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 0      
62 911 Germany Michael Fassbender
Austria Richard Lietz
Estonia Martin Rump
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE AM 0      
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