The headlines from FP1 at Le Mans

Hypercar

• Official free practice for the 94th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans – round three of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season – began in warm and sunny conditions at the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe 
• 62 entries and 186 drivers took advantage of the session to build upon the knowledge they gained during last Sunday’s test day, as they pushed towards finding both a strong single-lap set-up for qualifying later today while simultaneously focusing on preparations for this weekend’s race
• Heading the times in the three-hour session was the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry driven by Earl Bamber; the Kiwi, who won Le Mans in 2015 and 2017 for Porsche, set two consecutive fastest laps in the final 25 minutes, with the quicker one stopping the clocks at 3m23.786s
• That pace-setting effort was 1.562s ahead of the #101 Cadillac WTR entry, as Jordan Taylor peaked at 3m25.348s
• But the #38 JOTA-run V-Series.R appeared to have issues at the end of the session, as Jack Aitken toured slowly back to the pits
• The best run by Taylor – in the car he shares with brother Ricky Taylor and 2019-20 FIA WEC LMP2 class champion Filipe Albuquerque – initially proved to be 0.670s faster than the #38 Cadillac before Bamber’s late flyers
• FIA WEC points leaders Robin Frijns and René Rast placed third, with a best lap set by Rast late in the session on a 3m26.329s, just under a second shy of the #101 Cadillac
• The #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R lost time in the pits after rectifying an issue with the brake pedal, prior to winding up fourth on a 3m26.033s
• Home favourite Alpine was next in the order, with the #35 A424 Hypercar shared by Charles Milesi, António Félix da Costa and Ferdinand Habsburg placing fifth on a 3m26.078s
• Gunning for a sixth Le Mans victory, TOYOTA RACING took sixth position with the #8 TR010 Hybrid, with Sébastien Buemi claiming a 3m26.491s lap
• The highest-placed Ferrari was the 2024 Le Mans-winning #50 Ferrari 499P in seventh, just ahead of the #009 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie, ensuring six different manufacturers were represented inside the top eight positions in FP1
• Just behind the first of the Astons was a fine lap time of 3m26.603s for the #17 Genesis Magma Racing entry, achieved by ‘Pipo’ Derani
• Tom Gamble, the hero of the test day, set a late time to take tenth in the #007 Valkyrie
• Frédéric Makowiecki in the #36 Alpine clattered the barriers at the exit of the Forest Esses in the final moments of the session and was forced to park the car
• Trouble similarly struck for last year’s winner, the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P as Yifei Ye lost control at Mulsanne Corner and made light contact with the tyre wall 15 minutes from the chequered flag

LMGT3

• Akkodis ASP Team led the way in the hugely competitive LMGT3 category, as Jack Hawksworth set an early best effort of 3m55.737s in the #78 Lexus RC F
• The ‘super sub’ joins regular drivers Tom van Rompuy and Hadrien David, as Esteban Masson races in LMP2 this week
• Second in LMGT3 was the #32 Team WRT BMW crewed by Augusto Farfus, Sean Gelael and Darren Leung; the sister M4 Evo, piloted by Imola winners Parker Thompson, Daniel Harper and Anthony McIntosh made it a two-three for the Bavarian marque
• The #62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes snatched fourth place in the final moments ahead of the Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette
• José María López in the second Akkodis Lexus rounded out the top six

 LMP2

• Doriane Pin proved to be the sensation of the LMP2 category as she punched in a late lap of 3m35.248s aboard the #30 Duqueine Team Oreca-Gibson
• IDEC Sport had initially set the pace in the class, as Job van Uitert followed up his test day form with a time-topping performance
• The Dutch ace peaked on a 3m36.189s lap, 0.8secs slower than last Sunday’s time in the Oreca-Gibson he shares with Valerio Rinicella and Paul Lafargue
• Van Uitert’s time was also beaten on the final lap by 2024 FIA WEC champion Kévin Estre, who is flanking Mathias Beche and Tobias Lütke in the #14 TDS Racing entry this week
• But it was Pin’s brilliant effort that ensured that the Duqueine outfit goes into qualifying period with serious momentum on its side

Check out the full FP1 lap times.

Qualifying for the 24 Hours of Le Mans is scheduled to begin at 18:45 local time (CEST).

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