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Cadillac opened free practice for the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans with a commanding show of pace, as Earl Bamber put the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota V-Series.R at the top of the timesheets with a 3:23.786.
It was not just the lap time that stood out, but the shape of the order behind it. Cadillac completed a one-two at the head of the Hypercar field, with Jordan Taylor second in the #101 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac. The gap, however, was significant: Taylor ended the session more than a second and a half adrift of Bamber’s benchmark.
Rene Rast placed the #20 BMW third, less than two tenths behind Taylor, while Will Stevens made it three Cadillacs inside the top four aboard the #12 entry. Ferdinand Habsburg completed the top five as the leading Alpine driver in the #35.
For readers tracking the wider Le Mans build-up, our guide to how 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours qualifying works explains the format that will decide who progresses through qualifying and into Hyperpole.
The quickest LMH-rules car in the Hypercar class was only sixth overall, with Brendon Hartley setting the best Toyota time in the #8. Ferrari’s leading representative sat just behind, as Antonio Fuoco placed the #50 entry seventh.
At this stage of the week, practice pace remains only one piece of the picture, but Cadillac’s early control at the front gives its rivals a clear reference point before the competitive sessions intensify.
In LMP2, Doriane Pin set the standard for Duqueine in the #30 Oreca, posting a 3:35.248. Kevin Estre, making his first Le Mans appearance in LMP2 with the #14 TDS Racing Oreca, was second but more than seven tenths off Pin. Valerio Rinicella completed the top three in the #28 IDEC Sport entry, a further two tenths back.
LMGT3 was led by Jack Hawksworth in the #78 ASP Lexus with a 3:55.737. The two WRT BMWs followed closely: Augusto Farfus was exactly one tenth down in the #32, while Dan Harper was just one thousandth of a second behind his factory BMW team-mate in the #69.
The session was largely clean, though it began with an early incident when Theodor Jensen beached the #37 CLX Oreca in the gravel at the Forest Esses. A slow zone was introduced and briefly escalated to a full course yellow while marshals pushed the car back onto the circuit.
Qualifying begins at 6:45pm local time, with Hyperpole for all three classes scheduled for tomorrow evening.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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