Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Motorsport
Motorsport
Sport

Le Mans 24 Hours: Estre leads Porsche 1-2 on test day

Kevin Estre led the way in the #6 Porsche 963 LMDh with a 3m26.907s set in the second of the two three-hour sessions on Sunday to head the times by just over two tenths from Felipe Nasr in the sister #4 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry. 

The Brazilian improved the #4’s best lap by Nick Tandy, already good enough for second, to 3m27.142s late in the faster afternoon session in which the top eight cars dipped under Toyota driver Kamui Kobayashi’s quickest lap from the morning. 

Brendon Hartley took third in the afternoon in the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar with a 3m27.615s, while Michael Christensen made it three PPM cars in the top four courtesy of a 3m27.773s.

Miguel Molina posted a 3m28.014s to jump to fifth with an hour left on the clock to head the trio of Ferrari 499P LMHs competing in the 23-car Hypercar field. 

Robin Frijns was again in the top six for the WRT BMW squad, the Dutch driver finding 1.4s from the morning to end up on 3m28.072s in the #20 M Hybrid V8 LMDh. 

Lamborghini continued its improved WEC form from the morning, Daniil Kvyat getting down to 3m28.222s to take seventh position in the Test Day times during the final hour in the afternoon. 

The customer AF Corse-run Ferrari 499P was the last car to go under Kobayashi’s morning best, Yifei Ye setting a 3m28.248s. 

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid of Jose Maria Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck De Vries (Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt)

The #12 Jota customer Porsche team’s 963s was another later improver, Will Stevens putting the car ninth in the afternoon rankings with a 3m28.623s before Callum Ilott improved the car’s time to 3m28.487s but not its position. 

Jose Maria Lopez, drafted back into the Toyota squad after Conway was ruled out of Le Mans as the result of a cycling accident, rounded out the afternoon top 10 in the #7 GR010 with a 3m28.827s that left him four tenths off team-mate Kobayashi’s morning mark. 

Behind the second Jota and Ferrari factory entries in which Oliver Rasmussen and Antonio Giovinazzi set the times came the best of the revised Peugeot 9X8 LMHs with Paul di Resta at the wheel. The Briton’s 3m29.326s left him nearly two and a half seconds off the frontrunning pace. 

The top Cadillac V-Series.R was the Action Express Racing with Pipo Derani at the wheel in 14th place. The Brazilian set a 3m29.380s to end up some two tenths quicker than Alex Lynn in the best of the Ganassi-run Caddys in 16th. 

The two Alpine A424 LMDhs were again near the rear of the Hypercar pack, Nicolas Lapierre and Charles Milesi taking 17th and 20th. 

#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424 of Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere (Photo by: Marc Fleury)

The LMP2 class was led by United Autosports, Oliver Jarvis taking the top spot by nearly three tenths. 

His 3m34.704s aboard the Anglo-American team's #22 ORECA-Gibson 07 just shaded Olli Caldwell’s 3m25.981 in the best of the Algarve Pro entries in the all-ORECA field.

Third place went to the Duqueine ORECA in which James Allen set a 3m36.354s shortly before the session was red-flagged five minutes early.

The TF Sport Chevrolet team headed the LMGT3 rankings with Sebastien Baud as the quickest runners in the new-for-2024 class dipped below four minutes for the first time. 

Baud topped the times with a 3m59.883s in the #82 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which put him just three hundredths up on the 3m59.920s from Alex Riberas in the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.  

Augusto Farfus was the last driver below four minutes in the fastest of the two WRT BMW M4 GT3s. 

Track action at Le Mans resumes with the first free practice session at 14:00 local time on Wednesday, which is followed up the hour-long first qualifying session in the evening.

Le Mans 24 Hours test day - Session 2

POS # TEAM Car CLASS TIME GAP
1 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 HYPERCAR 3:26.907 -
2 4 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 HYPERCAR 3:27.142 +0.235
3 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid HYPERCAR 3:27.615 +0.708
4 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 HYPERCAR 3:27.773 +0.866
5 50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P HYPERCAR 3:28.014 +1.107
6 20 BMW M Team WRT BMW M HYBRID V8 HYPERCAR 3:28.072 +1.165
7 63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 HYPERCAR 3:28.222 +1.315
8 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P HYPERCAR 3:28.248 +1.341
9 12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963 HYPERCAR 3:28.487 +1.580
10 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid HYPERCAR 3:28.827 +1.920
11 38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963 HYPERCAR 3:29.043 +2.136
12 51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P HYPERCAR 3:29.162 +2.255
13 94 Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8 HYPERCAR 3:29.326 +2.419
14 311 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R HYPERCAR 3:29.360 +2.453
15 15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M HYBRID V8 HYPERCAR 3:29.580 +2.673
16 2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R HYPERCAR 3:29.617 +2.710
17 36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424 HYPERCAR 3:29.620 +2.713
18 19 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 HYPERCAR 3:29.750 +2.843
19 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R HYPERCAR 3:29.767 +2.860
20 35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424 HYPERCAR 3:29.828 +2.921
21 93 Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8 HYPERCAR 3:29.888 +2.981
22 99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 HYPERCAR 3:31.411 +4.504
23 11 Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-C HYPERCAR 3:33.006 +6.099
24 22 United Autosports Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:34.704 +7.797
25 25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:35.981 +9.074
26 30 Duqueine Team Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:36.354 +9.447
27 23 United Autosports USA Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:36.623 +9.716
28 183 AF Corse Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:36.750 +9.843
29 65 Panis Racing Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:36.898 +9.991
30 9 Proton Competition Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:37.169 +10.262
31 34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:37.385 +10.478
32 45 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:37.456 +10.549
33 10 Vector Sport Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:37.802 +10.895
34 24 Nielsen Racing Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:37.848 +10.941
35 28 IDEC Sport Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:37.939 +11.032
36 33 DKR Engineering Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:37.968 +11.061
37 37 COOL Racing Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:38.216 +11.309
38 14 AO by TF Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:38.689 +11.782
39 47 COOL Racing Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2 3:39.995 +13.088
40 82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R LMGT3 3:59.883 +32.976
41 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 LMGT3 3:59.920 +33.013
42 31 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 LMGT3 3:59.920 +33.013
43 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2 LMGT3 4:00.121 +33.214
44 59 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo LMGT3 4:00.184 +33.277
45 95 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo LMGT3 4:00.278 +33.371
46 85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2 LMGT3 4:00.378 +33.471
47 46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 LMGT3 4:00.417 +33.510
48 81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R LMGT3 4:00.444 +33.537
49 86 GR Racing Ferrari 296 LMGT3 LMGT3 4:00.467 +33.560
50 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo LMGT3 4:00.481 +33.574
51 44 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3 LMGT3 4:00.587 +33.680
52 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 LMGT3 4:00.639 +33.732
53 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 LMGT3 4:00.657 +33.750
54 777 D'Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 LMGT3 4:01.125 +34.218
55 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 296 LMGT3 LMGT3 4:01.186 +34.279
56 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3 LMGT3 4:01.366 +34.459
57 88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3 LMGT3 4:01.379 +34.472
58 155 Spirit of Race Ferrari 296 LMGT3 LMGT3 4:01.459 +34.552
59 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3 LMGT3 4:01.703 +34.796
60 91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 LMGT3 4:01.873 +34.966
61 92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 LMGT3 4:02.224 +35.317
62 87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3 LMGT3 4:05.108 +38.201
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.