Forestier Racing by Panis Tops Night Practice at Le Mans

Free Practice 2

LMP2

The final two hours of Wednesday’s running took place under the cover of darkness. In conditions vastly different from those experienced earlier in the day, drivers got their first real taste of what awaits them for a significant portion of the race.

After securing fourth place in Qualifying, the #29 ORECA 07 of Forestier Racing by Panis set the benchmark with a fastest lap of 3:33.645. Esteban Masson, Oliver Gray and Louis Rousset emerged as the pace-setters during the night session.

The #4 ORECA 07 of CrowdStrike Racing by APR finished second overall. Laurin Heinrich, Alexander Quinn and George Kurtz also moved to the top of the Pro-Am standings. The #183 AF Corse ORECA 07, driven by François Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Ben Barnicoat, completed the top three.

The top five was rounded out by the #43 Inter Europol Competition and #9 Proton Competition ORECA 07s.

Hypercar

Set to battle for pole position on Thursday, Alpine capped off a strong Wednesday with a top-five result. Jules Gounon, Victor Martins and Frédéric Makowiecki placed the #36 Alpine fourth, just three tenths of a second shy of the fastest time. The sister #35 machine ended the session in 13th place.

Also through to Hyperpole, Genesis Magma Racing enjoyed a productive day in the Sarthe. The #19 crew of Mathieu Jaminet, Paul-Loup Chatin and Daniel Juncadella concluded the session sixth overall, while the #17 entry shared by André Lotterer, Luis Felipe Derani and Mathys Jaubert finished 17th.

LMGT3

The #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 emerged as Ferrari’s leading LMGT3 contender in the final session of the day. François Hériau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera secured fifth place in class.

Ferrari’s LMGT3 crews focused primarily on race preparation, gathering valuable data and working on race pace ahead of the night stints that will prove crucial during the weekend’s race.