IDEC SPORT Racing clinches the class pole in the race of the century!
On the heels of a hotly contested Hyperpole, IDEC SPORT Racing’s #48 ORECA 07 clocked the fastest time of the final qualifying session. Paul-Loup Chatin, Paul Lafargue and Laurents Hörr will have the honour of leading the LMP2 field at the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary!
Free Practice 3:
A few hours ahead of the Hyperpole, the 24 ORECA 07s in the LMP2 class took part in the third free practice session, the last of the day. After three hours of track time, JOTA’s #28 ORECA 07 once again topped the timesheet. Like on Wednesday, Pietro Fittipaldi/David Heinemeier Hansson/Oliver Rasmussen dominated with a time of 03:34.071.
In second place, Nielsen Racing’s #14 ORECA 07 shared by Rodrigo Sales/Mathias Beche/Ben Hanley delivered a successful performance, finishing first in the Pro/Am class in 03 :37.218. Inter Europol Competition’s #34 ORECA 07 driven by Jakub Smiechowski/Albert Costa/Fabio Scherer rounded out the top 3 with a time of 03:37.315. The United Autosports team’s #22 and Algarve Pro Racing’s #45 completed the top 5.
FP3 proved relatively uneventful other than two inconsequential incidents involving Panis Racing’s #65 ORECA 07, one at the very end of the session.
Hyperpole:
IDEC SPORT Racing clinched the pole at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in five years! The French team’s #48 ORECA 07 shared by Paul-Loup Chatin/Paul Lafargue/Laurents Hörr gave a stunning showing to lead the LMP2 class composed of 24 ORECA 07s at the start on Saturday at 16:00. Thanks to extremely fast laps, Chatin established the time to beat of 03:32.923, as he did back in 2018.
The Hyperpole was interrupted for five minutes near the end of the session as the result of a red flag caused by a fire in the #3 Cadillac, so the 2019 ELMS champion had to wait to savour its success.
Unlike the pole-sitter, JOTA’s #28 ORECA 07 driven by Pietro Fittipaldi/David Heinemeier Hansson/Oliver Rasmussen returned to the track to attempt a better time. Brazilian driver Fittipaldi improved JOTA’s standing in his final lap to place the team on the first row with a time of 03:33.035, trailing the French leader by just 0.10 of a second.
Team WRT’s #41 ORECA 07 shared by Louis Delétraz/Rui Andrade/Robert Kubica rounded out the top 3 in 03:33.240. At the wheel of the #47 ORECA 07, young and promising talent Reshad de Gerus placed COOL Racing in fourth position. The Prema Racing #63 completed the top 5.
The only Pro/Am competitor to make it into the Hyperpole, Nielsen Racing’s #14 ORECA 07 driven by Rodrigo Sales/Mathias Beche/Ben Hanley solidified its successful performance with the sixth spot, followed by Prema Racing’s #9 and Vector Sport’s #10.
Free Practice 4:
The 24 ORECA 07s were given a last opportunity at track time after dark before the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary on Saturday. FP4 was disrupted by a red flag following the breakdown of one of the Peugeots.
Racing Team Turkey’s #923 ORECA 07 shared by Salih Yoluç/Tom Gamble/Dries Vanthoor clocked the quickest time of 03:36.229 in the final free practice. The driver line-up is competing in Pro/Am, further enhancing its performance.
Panis Racing’s #65 ORECA 07 driven by Manuel Maldonado/Tijmen van der Helm/Job van Uitert finished the day in second position in 03:36.650. Prema Racing’s #63 shared by Doriane Pin/Danill Kvyat/Mirko Bortolotti rounded out the top 3 with a time of 03:36.904 ahead of the United Autosports team’s #23 and AF Corse’s #80.
Having scored the pole a few hours earlier, IDEC SPORT Racing’s #48 ORECA 07 is 14th and can now focus on starting the 24 Hours of Le Mans leading its class.
The ORECA 07s will next hit the track for the Warm-Up on Saturday 10 June at 12:00 local time for the much anticipated start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary at 16:00.
