Le Mans Qualifying: Lynn tops for Cadillac, #6 Penske Porsche DQed

Thursday, 12 June 2025 at 08:32

Cadillac's Alex Lynn set a new benchmark at the Circuit de la Sarthe, clocking a 3:22.847 in Qualifying for the 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Later the #6 Porsche 963 shared by Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell was disqualified.

Lynn set the fastest Hypercar lap ever recorded at the Le Mans circuit and booked Cadillac #12 a place in Hyperpole. Meanwhile, Toyota’s #7 entry once again failed to make the cut for the pole shootout.

The Wednesday evening session at Le Mans was marked by drama and surprises across all categories. Nyck de Vries in the Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7 (shared with Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway) could only manage 17th, eliminating the car from the top-15 Hyperpole shootout. It is the second year running the #7 missed out, following a red flag incident by Kobayashi in 2024 that voided his times.

The Hypercar session saw intense track evolution, with lap times tumbling in the final minutes. Alex Lynn’s pole-sitting effort beat Antonio Fuoco’s 2023 Hyperpole record by 0.145s. BMW’s Dries Vanthoor (car #15) came close with a 3:22.887 to take second, while Ferrari #51, Porsche #6, and another Cadillac—the #38 driven by Sébastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Jenson Button—rounded out the top five.

Also advancing were last year's winners, all three factory Ferraris, three Cadillacs, and four Porsches. The Alpine #36 (Gounon/Makowiecki/Schumacher) scraped through in 10th, but there was brief uncertainty as Mick Schumacher came under investigation for a potential yellow flag infringement. The stewards later ruled no penalty was necessary.

Porsche #6 Disqualified , Aston Martin vaults into Hyperpole

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The #6 Porsche 963 shared by Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell was disqualified from qualifying for the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans after failing post-session technical inspection due to being under the minimum weight.

Originally, Estre had qualified the car in fourth position, even topping the timesheets at one point during the session. However, at 23:27 local time on Wednesday evening, stewards ruled the car in breach of technical regulations. The disqualification means the #6 Porsche will now start from the back of the Hypercar field for the race on Saturday.

The decision has handed a lifeline to The Heart of Racing team. With all cars behind the disqualified Porsche promoted one position, the #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie (driven by Riberas, Sörensen and De Angelis) now moves up into 15th place—securing the final spot in Thursday’s Hyperpole session.

The British entry had originally missed out by a fraction, after Felipe Nasr in the #4 Porsche posted a late improvement to bump the Aston Martin out. But with the reshuffle, the Valkyrie will now make its Hyperpole debut at Le Mans, capitalising on Porsche’s technical infringement.

The #7 Toyota (Conway/Kobayashi/de Vries), which failed to make the top 15 on pace, remains outside of Hyperpole despite the changes.

Toyota bounce back in Le Mans Night Practice then crash

Toyota set the fastest lap in the second Free Practice session for the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the night ended with drama as the #8 GR010 Hybrid was involved in a collision in the final minute of running.

The #8 Toyota (Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa) posted a 3:26.156 to top the timesheets in the first of two night sessions on Wednesday. However, just moments before the chequered flag, the car made contact with the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari (Kimura/Serra/Stevenson), triggering a high-speed spin and shower of sparks. The incident ended the session on a dramatic note, though the Toyota returned to the pits under its own power.

The fastest lap on the road had initially come from the #83 AF Corse Ferrari (Kubica/Ye/Hanson), with Robert Kubica setting a blistering 3:25.1. That time, however, was deleted after Kubica was caught exceeding the pit lane speed limit, clocked at 73 km/h where the limit is 60 km/h.

Aside from the final-lap incident, the session ran largely without incident. A brief red flag caused by debris on track—apparently from an Aston Martin—was the only interruption. Notably, the #6 Porsche (Estre/Vanthoor/Campbell), disqualified from qualifying earlier in the evening, ran intermittently before returning to full pace.

Several teams focused on long-run simulations, and the data showed significantly quicker race pace compared to 2024. Multiple Hypercars dipped below 3:27 on fresh tyres, but performance fell off rapidly thereafter. Race engineers are placing more emphasis on average lap times than outright speed, with the sub-3:30 consistency likely to be a key metric in race strategy.