AO by TF dominates Hyperpole qualifying session
The first phase of qualifying for the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans has delivered its verdict. In the brand new format introduced this year, the 12 fastest LMP2s earned the right to battle for pole position on Thursday. AO by TF has emerged as a favourite after topping the timesheet today.
Free Practice 1:
LMP2
In the lead for the first hours of Test Day on Sunday, RLR M Sport’s #16 ORECA 07 (Michael Jensen/Ryan Cullen/Patrick Pilet) led the Free Practice 1 classification, in both LMP2 and Pro-Am, after covering the 13.626 km circuit in 3:36.888.
Trailing by just 0.237 seconds, Inter Europol’s #43 ORECA 07 (Jakub Smiechowski/Tom Dillmann/Nick Yelloly) also fared well after a solid performance on Sunday. Algarve Pro Racing’s #45 ORECA 07 (George Kurtz/Nicky Catsburg/Alexander Quinn) took P3.
VDS Panis Racing’s #48 ORECA 07 (Oliver Gray/Franck Perera/Estéban Masson) and TDS Racing’s #29 ORECA 07 (Rodrigo Sales/Mathias Beche/Clément Novalak) rounded out the top 5.
HYPERCAR
Alpine Endurance Team made it into the Hypercar top 10. The #35 (Paul-Loup Chatin/Charles Milesi/Ferdinand Habsburg) landed in ninth position less than a second from the leader. The #36 sister car (Mick Schumacher/Frédéric Makowiecki/Jules Gounon) finished in P14.
LMGT3
Three of the five Ferrari 296 LMGT3s built in ORECA’s workshops occupied the LMGT3 top 5. Vista AF Corse’s #54 (Thomas Flohr/Francesco Castellacci/Davide Rigon) clocked the second quickest time. Ziggo Sport Tempesta’s #193 (Jonathan Hui/Christopher Froggatt/Edward Cheever) and Vista AF Corse’s #21 (François Hériau/Simon Mann/Alessio Rovera) closed the top 5.
The LMP2 and LMGT3 Hyperpole qualifying session is scheduled on Wednesday from 18:45 to 19:15 followed by the Hypercars from 19:30 to 20:00.
Qualifying:
LMP2
Last year’s pole-sitter, Louis Delétraz, at the wheel of AO by TF’s #199 ORECA 07 clocked the best time of the LMP2 Hyperpole qualifying session. The Swiss driver set the time to beat at 3:35.472.
Hot on his heels was the United Autosports #23 ORECA 07 driven by Ben Hanley, just 0.185 seconds behind. The top 3 was rounded out by Algarve Pro Racing’s #45 ORECA 07 driven by Alexander Quinn.
After a 30-minute session interrupted twice by a red flag, the first 12 ORECA 07s earned their places in the next qualifying round: the TDS Racing #29, United Autosports #22, VDS Panis Racing #48, Algarve Pro Racing #25, Inter Europol Competition #43, IDEC SPORT Racing #28, RLR M Sport #16, AF Corse #183 and the CLX-Pure Rxcing #37.
The first car that failed to qualify, Proton Competition’s #11 ORECA 07, will start the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans in P13 ahead of IDEC SPORT Racing’s #18, Iron Lynx-Proton’s #9, Inter Europol Competition’s #34 and Nielsen Racing’s #24.
HYPERCAR
Thanks to a time clocked in the final seconds, Mick Schumacher slipped the #36 Alpine into the Hypercar top 10. The German driver grabbed the last availabe qualifying spot in 3:23.945 and will proceed to the next session.
The sister car came through at the last minute! The #35 of Paul-Loup Chatin (at the wheel for the session), Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi finished in 14th position.
LMGT3
Three Ferraris made it into the top 12: Ziggo Sport Tempesta’s #193 (Jonathan Hui), Vista AF Corse’s #21 (François Hériau) and #54 (Thomas Flohr). The Bronze drivers in these line-ups are in the running to score pole position in their category.
Free Practice 2:
LMP2:
For the first time in the 2025 edition, drivers took to the track at night. A session under such unique conditions offers teams valuable preparation for the race.
Strong at the end of the day during qualifying, the #99 ORECA 07 of AO by TF ended its Wednesday on a high note — topping both the overall and Pro-Am timesheets. Clocking a 3:37.515, Louis Delétraz, PJ Hyett, and Dane Cameron can rest easy tonight. The crew has kicked off their Le Mans week in the best possible way.
The #22 ORECA of United Autosports claimed second place, with Renger Van Der Zande, Pietro Fittipaldi, and David Heinemeier Hansson edging out the #37 ORECA 07 of CLX – Pure Rxcing (Aliaksandr Malykhin, Tom Blomqvist, Tristan Vautier). The #29 ORECA 07 of TDS Racing and the #48 of VDS Panis Racing rounded out the top five.
Hypercar:
With both cars qualified for Hyperpole, Alpine focused on race pace. The #36 (Mick Schumacher, Frédéric Makowiecki, Jules Gounon) finished 12th, six places ahead of the #35 (Paul-Loup Chatin, Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg). It was a productive session, not necessarily reflective of the true performance potential of the A-arrow brand.
LMGT3:
The Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 posted the fourth-fastest time in the night session. Takeshi Kimura, Daniel Serra, and Casper Stevenson showed solid pace. The other Italian entries focused on longer stints to best simulate race conditions.