The headlines from FP3 at Le Mans

Hypercar

• A stunning 3m23.302s lap by Dries Vanthoor in the final moments of the three-hour session ensured that BMW wound up at the top of the pile in FP3 at La Sarthe this afternoon
• The Belgian ace went 0.423sesc clear of the Victor Martins-driven #36 Alpine A424, as the final simulations for tonight’s Hyperpole session were completed
• Will Stevens set a 3m23.816s lap in the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R Hypercar, as the Brit claimed third ahead of the #20 BMW, in which Robin Frijns posted a 3m24.162s lap
• Continuing its superb first showing at Le Mans, the Genesis Magma Racing squad stayed at the sharp end of the order as Mathys Jaubert peaked on a time of 3m24.195s to claim fifth place
• The #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA car took sixth, just shading the #36 Alpine as Les Bleus look to be right in the mix to challenge for a home pole position
• The top ten was completed by the #101 Cadillac WTR in eighth, the #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P in ninth and the #19 Genesis GMR-001, making it a hugely positive session for the South Korean manufacturer

LMGT3

• Heart of Racing Team’s Aston Martin continued to show consistent pace on Thursday afternoon as the #23 Vantage AMR of Jonny Adam, Eduardo Barrichello and Gray Newell led the way in LMGT3, courtesy of a lap time of 3m38.342s from the Brazilian
• That effort eclipsed the #32 Team WRT BMW M4 Evo of Sean Gelael, Augusto Farfus and Darren Leung by 0.208secs
• Akkodis ASP Team continued to show consistent pace, with third position for the #87 Lexus RC F crewed by Petru Umbrărescu, José María Lopez and Clemens Schmid
• Ferrari placed fourth, with the #21 VISTA AF Corse 296 again in the leading group in the 25-strong LMGT3 class
• The #78 Akkodis-run Lexus grabbed fifth late on, as Jack Hawksworth again starred on his third consecutive ‘super-sub’ appearance at La Sarthe
• Rounding out the top six was the #10 Garage 59 McLaren in the hands of Spa-winning crew Tom Fleming, Marvin Kirchhöfer and Antares Au

LMP2

• The table-topping #29 Forestier Racing by Panis entry and second-placed #30 Duqueine Team car ended up separated by just 0.001secs following fast laps from Oliver Gray and Julien Andlauer respectively
• The #343 Inter Europol Competition Oreca-Gibson took third, as Reshad de Gerus set the quickest time in the car he shares with Porsche factory driver Nico Müller and Bijoy Garg
• The #14 TDS Racing prototype was the quickest Pro/Am car in the field, and fourth in the category overall
• Several incidents occurred within the LMP2 class during FP3, including an accident for the #44 Proton Competition when Horst Felix Felbermayr Jnr crashed at the Porsche Curves; the Austrian made it back to the pits, where the team began significant repairs
• Ben Hanley endured a rare excursion at Indianapolis Corner and skated across the gravel, but recovered sufficiently to continue undamaged; there was drama, too, for the #222 United Autosports car driven by Daniel Schneider, who hit the wall at the Ford Chicane in the final 25 minutes of the session, damaging the front-left corner and bringing out a brief red flag
• Richard Verschoor in the #30 Duqueine Oreca-Gibson was hit by the Roman de Angelis-piloted #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar, but both were able to continue
• The #37 CLX Motorsport entry driven by Theodor Jensen hit the guardrail at the exit of the Forest Esses, but made it back to the pits with minimal damage

Check out the full FP3 lap times.

Next up will be the two Hyperpole shootouts to determine the final grid positions for the race, starting at 20:00 CEST.

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