Hot News World Endurance Championship

WEC: Ferrari locks out front row at Le Mans

Posted by AR1 staff

Antonio Fuoco led a Ferrari AF Corse 1-2 in Hyperpole for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Italian driver turned a lap of 3m22.982s in his No. 50 Ferrari 499P to edge out teammate Alessandro Pier Guidi by 0.773 seconds in what is Ferrari’s first overall Le Mans pole since 1973.

FERRARI AF CORSE – Antonio Fuoco (ITA) – 24 Hours of Le Mans – Centenary Edition – Circuit de la Sarthe – Le Mans – France – Photo courtesy of 2023 FIA WEC / FocusPackMedia – Christian Rodriguez

A fire for the No. 3 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Sebastien Bourdais, who had just put the third quickest time of the session, brought out a red flag with 5 minutes and 15 seconds to go and stopped the clock.

Bourdais’ fastest lap was removed due to causing a red flag and Brendon Hartley and Felipe Nasr on their final laps locked in 3rd and 4th respectively.

LMP2 pole honors went to the No. 48 IDEC Sport Oreca 07 Gibson of Paul-Loup Chatin, who scored his second Le Mans class pole thanks to a 3:32.923 lap. It was Pietro Fittipaldi for JOTA who claimed second, narrowly missing out on pole by just 0.122s.

Ben Keating claimed GTE-Am pole in the No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R with a lap of 3m52.376s to beat the No. 25 ORT by TF Aston Martin Vantage GTE of Ahmad Al Harthy by a whopping 1.529 seconds.

It is Corvette’s third pole at Le Mans in WEC, and second in LMGTE Am.

#33 CORVETTE RACING / Corvette C8.R – 24 Hours of Le Mans – Centenary Edition – Circuit de la Sarthe – Le Mans – France – Photo by 2023 FIA WEC / – Gabi Tomescu

Hyperpole Results

POS No. CLASS TEAM DRIVERS CAR TIME BEHIND
1 50 Hypercar H FERRARI AF CORSE FUOCO Antonio, MOLINA Miguel, NIELSEN Nicklas Ferrari 499P 3m22.982s 0.000s
2 51 Hypercar H FERRARI AF CORSE PIER GUIDI Alessandro, CALADO James, GIOVINAZZI Antonio Ferrari 499P 3m23.755s 0.773s
3 8 Hypercar H TOYOTA GAZOO RACING BUEMI Sébastien, HARTLEY Brendon, HIRAKAWA Ryo Toyota GR010 HYBRID 3m24.451s 1.469s
4 75 Hypercar H PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT NASR Felipe, JAMINET Mathieu, TANDY Nicholas Porsche 963 3m24.531s 1.549s
5 7 Hypercar H TOYOTA GAZOO RACING CONWAY Mike, KOBAYASHI Kamui, LOPEZ Jose Maria Toyota GR010 HYBRID 3m24.933s 1.951s
6 2 Hypercar H CADILLAC RACING BAMBER Earl, LYNN Alex, WESTBROOK Richard Cadillac V-Series.R 3m25.170s 2.188s
7 5 Hypercar H PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT CAMERON Dane, CHRISTENSEN Michael, MAKOWIECKI Frédéric Porsche 963 3m25.176s 2.194s
8 3 Hypercar H CADILLAC RACING BOURDAIS Sébastien, VAN DER ZANDE Renger, DIXON Scott Cadillac V-Series.R 3m25.521s 2.539s
9 48 LM P2 IDEC SPORT LAFARGUE Paul, CHATIN Paul Loup, HÖRR Laurents Oreca 07 – Gibson 3m32.923s 9.941s
10 28 LM P2 JOTA HEINEMEIER-HANSSON David, RASMUSSEN Oliver, FITTIPALDI Pietro Oreca 07 – Gibson 3m33.035s 10.053s
11 41 LM P2 TEAM WRT ANDRADE Rui, DELÉTRAZ Louis, KUBICA Robert Oreca 07 – Gibson 3m33.240s 10.258s
12 47 LM P2 COOL RACING DE GÉRUS Reshad, LOMKO Vladislav, PAGENAUD Simon Oreca 07 – Gibson 3m33.580s 10.598s
13 63 LM P2 PREMA RACING PIN Doriane, KVYAT Daniil, BORTOLOTTI Mirko Oreca 07 – Gibson 3m33.983s 11.001s
14 14 LM P2 P/A NIELSEN RACING SALES Rodrigo, BECHE Mathias, HANLEY Ben Oreca 07 – Gibson 3m34.021s 11.039s
15 9 LM P2 PREMA RACING VISCAAL Bent, CORREA Juan Manuel, UGRAN Filip Oreca 07 – Gibson 3m34.658s 11.676s
16 10 LM P2 VECTOR SPORT CULLEN Ryan, AUBRY Gabriel, KAISER Matthias Oreca 07 – Gibson 3m35.091s 12.109s
17 33 LM GTE Am CORVETTE RACING CATSBURG Nicky, KEATING Ben, VARRONE Nicolas Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 3m52.376s 29.394s
18 25 LM GTE Am ORT BY TF AL HARTHY Ahmad, DINAN Michael, EASTWOOD Charlie Aston Martin Vantage AMR 3m53.905s 30.923s
19 54 LM GTE Am AF CORSE FLOHR Thomas, CASTELLACCI Francesco, RIGON Davide Ferrari 488 GTE Evo 3m54.582s 31.600s
20 21 LM GTE Am AF CORSE MANN Simon, PIGUET Julien, DE PAUW Ulysse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo 3m54.744s 31.762s
21 83 LM GTE Am RICHARD MILLE AF CORSE PEREZ COMPANC Luis, ROVERA Alessio, WADOUX Lilou Ferrari 488 GTE Evo 3m55.033s 32.051s
22 57 LM GTE Am KESSEL RACING KIMURA Takeshi, HUFFAKER Scott, SERRA Daniel Ferrari 488 GTE Evo 3m55.637s 32.655s
23 55 LM GTE Am GMB MOTORSPORT BIRCH Gustav, SØRENSEN Marco, MØLLER Jens Reno Aston Martin Vantage AMR 3m57.240s 34.258s
24 74 LM GTE Am KESSEL RACING COZZOLINO Kei, TSUJIKO Yorikatsu, YOKOMIZO Naoki Ferrari 488 GTE Evo 3m59.648s 36.666s