Alpine edges Cadillac in Le Mans qualifying - #83 Ferrari misses Hyperpole

Alpine strikes late in Hypercar qualifying

Alpine snatched the top spot in Le Mans 24 Hours Hypercar qualifying by the narrowest of margins, as Ferdinand Habsburg delivered a last-gasp 3m23.135s in the #35 Alpine to beat Louis Deletraz’s #12 Jota Cadillac by just 0.013s. The result capped a fiercely compressed session in which early pace, track evolution and the Hyperpole cut-off combined to punish even minor errors.

The qualifying picture had initially been shaped by Tom Gamble in the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie, whose opening 3m24.163s stood as the benchmark for much of the early running. Only Earl Bamber’s Free Practice 1 reference had been faster earlier in the event, underlining the quality of Gamble’s lap. For more on that earlier Cadillac-led session, read our report on Bamber setting the Le Mans opening practice benchmark.

Within 15 minutes, however, the field had tightened dramatically. The top seven were covered by three tenths, with the #009 Aston Martin, #12 Cadillac, #20 BMW, #35 Alpine, #101 Cadillac and #38 Cadillac all pressing into contention.

Ferrari’s defending winner falls short

The key tension was not only at the front, but around the top-15 cut required to reach Hyperpole. Frederic Makowiecki’s #36 Alpine and the Peugeots of Malthe Jakobsen and Stoffel Vandoorne were among those under threat, while Phil Hanson in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari sat only two tenths clear of danger.

As the times improved, the #83 Ferrari became increasingly exposed. Hanson’s car put two wheels on the grass exiting the Forest Esses, and his best lap of 3m25.495s was not enough. Last year’s winning Ferrari failed to advance, finishing half a second slower than Vandoorne’s #93 Peugeot and only narrowly ahead of Jakobsen’s #94 Peugeot.

Both factory Ferraris did make Hyperpole, but by less than half a second — a slim margin in a session defined by precision.

Pin dominates LMP2 as Corvette tops LMGT3

In LMP2, Doriane Pin produced the standout performance of the joint LMP2 and LMGT3 session. Driving the #30 Duqueine Oreca, she set a 3m34.662s, more than half a second clear, after a direct fight with Ian Aguilera’s #37 CLX Motorsport Oreca. Aguilera held second, with Bijoy Garg third for Inter Europol.

Only four LMP2 cars missed Hyperpole 1: the #16 Proton Competition Oreca, #17 Algarve Pro, #48 RD Limited and #3 DKR Engineering.

In LMGT3, Peter Dempsey led for TF Sport with a 3m55.744s in the #34 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, two tenths clear of Proton’s Eric Powell. Gray Newell, James Cottingham and Darren Leung completed the top five, while neither Garage 59 McLaren reached Hyperpole 1.

Alpine strikes late in Hypercar qualifying