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Le Mans 24 Hours: Ferrari leads Porsche, BMW in tight FP3

With Hyperpole the only pure-performance exercise still coming up – and involving just 24 of the 62 entries – everyone focused on race preparation with long runs during the three-hour Thursday afternoon session.

Fuoco set the quickest time in 3m27.283s – nearly three seconds slower than the #15 BMW's qualifying effort at the hands of Dries Vanthoor yesterday, with the Belgian third quickest in 3m27.432s.

Porsche took second place thanks to Kevin Estre's 3m27.391s effort in the #6 963, while Sebastien Bourdais lapped in 3m27.471s with the #3 Cadillac.

Toyota was the fifth manufacturer in the top five, with Kamui Kobayashi setting a 3m27.803s at the wheel of the #7 Toyota.

Three Cadillac drivers were the next references, close to a second slower than the leading Porsche.

Alex Lynn was the most competitive of them in 3m28.245s, while his #2 team-mate Alex Palou had previously lapped in 3m28.442s. Meanwhile, Felipe Drugovich's #311 Action Express-run entry set a 3m28.345s.

The #8 Toyota took eighth place in 3m28.642s thanks to Brendon Hartley, despite an inconsequential trip through the gravel at pit entry for team-mate Sebastian Buemi.

Alpine, Lamborghini, BMW and Peugeot also lapped in 3m30.000s or less, with only Isotta Fraschini lagging far behind. The #11 car didn't manage any better than a 3m31.461s.

Meanwhile, Jota's #12 entry shared by Callum Ilott, Norman Nato and Will Stevens didn't run at all, as it is in the process of being built on a new monocoque following Ilott's crash in FP2 last night.

#59 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo: James Cottingham, Nicolas Costa, Gregoire Saucy (Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt)

In LMP2, the #65 Panis Racing ORECA had an unusual session, topping the times in 3m37.217s before crashing twice. First, Rodrigo Sales spun and hit the wall at the exit of the Ford Chicane, then Scott Huffaker went off at Indianapolis.

Cool Racing's #47 machine was 0.125s away from the reference, with AO by TF's #14 machine registering a deficit of just under half a second.

Similarly, the GT3 class was topped by United Autosports' #59 McLaren despite James Cottingham crashing it at Tertre Rouge after putting two wheels on the grass. The incident caused FP3's only red flag halfway through the session, with Frederik Schandorff stopping the #70 McLaren after Mulsanne corner seconds later.

The #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini was just six thousandths of a second off the top, with GR Racing's #86 Ferrari taking third place in the category.

Le Mans 24 Hours - FP3 results:

   
1
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4
   
   
1
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2
   
Cla Team # Drivers Car Laps Time Interval km/h
1
FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR
50 Italy A. Fuoco Spain M. Molina Denmark N. Nielsen Ferrari 499P 38

3'27.283

  236.650
2
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
6 France K. Estre Germany A. Lotterer Belgium L. Vanthoor Porsche 963 35

+0.108

3'27.391

0.108 236.527
3
BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR
15 Belgium D. Vanthoor Italy R. Marciello Germany M. Wittmann BMW M Hybrid V8 34

+0.149

3'27.432

0.041 236.480
4
CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR
3 France S. Bourdais Netherlands R. van der Zande New Zealand S. Dixon Cadillac V-Series.R 27

+0.188

3'27.471

0.039 236.435
5
Toyota Racing HYPERCAR
7 Argentina J. Lopez Japan K. Kobayashi Netherlands N. de Vries Toyota GR010 - Hybrid 43

+0.520

3'27.803

0.332 236.058
6
CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR
2 New Zealand E. Bamber United Kingdom A. Lynn Spain A. Palou Cadillac V-Series.R 37

+0.962

3'28.245

0.442 235.557
7
Whelen Cadillac Racing HYPERCAR
311 Brazil P. Derani United Kingdom J. Aitken Brazil F. Drugovich Cadillac V-Series.R 38

+1.062

3'28.345

0.100 235.444
8
Toyota Racing HYPERCAR
8 Switzerland S. Buemi New Zealand B. Hartley Japan R. Hirakawa Toyota GR010 - Hybrid 39

+1.359

3'28.642

0.297 235.108
9
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
4 France M. Jaminet Brazil F. Nasr United Kingdom N. Tandy Porsche 963 32

+1.407

3'28.690

0.048 235.054
10
Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR
36 France N. Lapierre Germany M. Schumacher France M. Vaxiviere Alpine A424 41

+1.596

3'28.879

0.189 234.842
11
FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR
51 Italy A. Pier Guidi United Kingdom J. Calado Italy A. Giovinazzi Ferrari 499P 32

+1.702

3'28.985

0.106 234.723
12
Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR
19 France R. Grosjean Italy A. Caldarelli Italy M. Cairoli Lamborghini SC63 33

+1.759

3'29.042

0.057 234.659
13
Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR
35 France P. Chatin Austria F. Habsburg France C. Milesi Alpine A424 39

+2.090

3'29.373

0.331 234.288
14
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
5 Australia M. Campbell Denmark M. Christensen France F. Makowiecki Porsche 963 41

+2.137

3'29.420

0.047 234.235
15
BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR
20 South Africa S. Van Der Linde Netherlands R. Frijns Germany R. Rast BMW M Hybrid V8 31

+2.613

3'29.896

0.476 233.704
16
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR
94 Belgium S. Vandoorne United Kingdom P. di Resta France L. Duval Peugeot 9X8 2024 33

+2.717

3'30.000

0.104 233.588
17
AF Corse HYPERCAR
83 Poland R. Kubica Israel R. Shwartzman China Y. Yifei Ferrari 499P 39

+3.025

3'30.308

0.308 233.246
18
HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR
38 Denmark O. Rasmussen United Kingdom P. Hanson United Kingdom J. Button Porsche 963 19

+3.100

3'30.383

0.075 233.163
19
Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR
63 Italy M. Bortolotti Russian Federation D. Kvyat Switzerland E. Mortara Lamborghini SC63 26

+3.170

3'30.453

0.070 233.085
20
Proton Competition HYPERCAR
99 Switzerland N. Jani United Kingdom H. Tincknell France J. Andlauer Porsche 963 35

+3.222

3'30.505

0.052 233.028
21
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR
93 France J. Vergne Denmark M. Jensen Switzerland N. Müller Peugeot 9X8 2024 29

+3.704

3'30.987

0.482 232.495
22
Isotta Fraschini HYPERCAR
11
C. Bennett
France J. Vernay Canada A. Serravalle
Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 Competizione LMH 29

+4.178

3'31.461

0.474 231.974
23
PANIS RACING LMP2
65 United States R. Sales Switzerland M. Beche United States S. Huffaker Oreca 07 24

+9.934

3'37.217

5.756 225.827
24
Cool Racing LMP2
47
N. Rao
United Kingdom M. Bell Denmark F. Vesti
Oreca 07 29

+10.059

3'37.342

0.125 225.697
25
AO by TF LMP2
14 United States P. Hyett Switzerland L. Deletraz
A. Quinn
Oreca 07 33

+10.420

3'37.703

0.361 225.323
26
AF Corse LMP2
183 France F. Perrodo United Kingdom B. Barnicoat
N. Varrone
Oreca 07 33

+10.493

3'37.776

0.073 225.247
27
VECTOR SPORT LMP2
10 Ireland R. Cullen France P. Pilet Monaco S. Richelmi Oreca 07 32

+10.696

3'37.979

0.203 225.038
28
IDEC SPORT LMP2
28 France P. Lafargue Netherlands J. Van Uitert France R. de Gerus Oreca 07 22

+10.722

3'38.005

0.026 225.011
29
INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION LMP2
34 Poland J. Smiechowski Russian Federation V. Lomko France C. Novalak Oreca 07 39

+10.971

3'38.254

0.249 224.754
30
United Autosports LMP2
22 United Kingdom O. Jarvis
B. Garg
N. Siegel
Oreca 07 38

+10.975

3'38.258

0.004 224.750
31
DUQUEINE TEAM LMP2
30 United States J. Falb Australia J. Allen France J. Simmenauer Oreca 07 40

+11.019

3'38.302

0.044 224.705
32
Proton Competition LMP2
9 Germany J. Ried
M. Capietto
Netherlands B. Viscaal
Oreca 07 36

+11.055

3'38.338

0.036 224.668
33
Crowdstrike Racing by APR LMP2
45 United States G. Kurtz United States C. Braun Netherlands N. Catsburg Oreca 07 37

+11.419

3'38.702

0.364 224.294
34
UNITED AUTOSPORTS USA LMP2
23 United States B. Keating Portugal F. Albuquerque United Kingdom B. Hanley Oreca 07 36

+11.787

3'39.070

0.368 223.917
35
DKR Engineering LMP2
33 Germany A. Mattschull Austria R. Binder Germany L. Hörr Oreca 07 33

+11.933

3'39.216

0.146 223.768
36
Cool Racing LMP2
37
L. Fluxá
Denmark M. Jakobsen Japan R. Miyata
Oreca 07 37

+12.112

3'39.395

0.179 223.585
37
NIELSEN RACING LMP2
24 Switzerland F. Scherer Denmark D. Heinemeier Hansson United States K. Simpson Oreca 07 34

+12.655

3'39.938

0.543 223.033
38
Algarve Pro Racing Team LMP2
25 Liechtenstein M. Kaiser United Kingdom O. Caldwell Canada R. De Angelis Oreca 07 32

+13.685

3'40.968

1.030 221.994
39
United Autosports LMGT3
59 J. Cottingham N. Costa Switzerland G. Saucy McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 13

+30.275

3'57.558

16.590 206.491
40
IRON LYNX LMGT3
60 Italy C. Schiavoni Italy M. Cressoni
F. Perera
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 34

+30.281

3'57.564

0.006 206.485
41
GR RACING LMGT3
86 United Kingdom M. Wainwright Brazil D. Serra Italy R. Pera Ferrari 296 GT3 35

+30.403

3'57.686

0.122 206.379
42
D'Station Racing LMGT3
777 Japan S. Hoshino
E. Bastard
Denmark M. Sorensen
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 31

+30.438

3'57.721

0.035 206.349
43
United Autosports LMGT3
95 H. Hamaguchi Chile N. Pino Japan M. Sato McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 35

+31.332

3'58.615

0.894 205.576
44
Proton Competition LMGT3
77 United States R. Hardwick Canada Z. Robichon United Kingdom B. Barker Ford Mustang GT3 27

+31.498

3'58.781

0.166 205.433
45
Vista AF Corse LMGT3
55 France F. Heriau France S. Mann Italy A. Rovera Ferrari 296 GT3 37

+31.647

3'58.930

0.149 205.305
46
AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3
87 Japan T. Kimura
E. Masson
United Kingdom J. Hawksworth
Lexus RC F GT3 34

+31.668

3'58.951

0.021 205.287
47
AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3
78
A. Robin
Russian Federation T. Boguslavskiy South Africa K. van der Linde
Lexus RC F GT3 33

+31.732

3'59.015

0.064 205.232
48
TEAM WRT LMGT3
46 United Kingdom A. Al Harthy Italy V. Rossi Belgium M. Martin BMW M4 GT3 36

+31.732

3'59.015

0.000 205.232
49
Spirit of Race LMGT3
155 Denmark J. Laursen
C. Laursen
United States J. Taylor
Ferrari 296 GT3 32

+31.829

3'59.112

0.097 205.149
50
Manthey EMA LMGT3
91
Y. Shahin
M. Schuring
Austria R. Lietz
Porsche 911 GT3 R 35

+31.945

3'59.228

0.116 205.049
51
Vista AF Corse LMGT3
54 Switzerland T. Flohr Italy F. Castellacci Italy D. Rigon Ferrari 296 GT3 37

+31.946

3'59.229

0.001 205.048
52
TF Sport LMGT3
82 Japan H. Koizumi
S. Baud
Spain D. Juncadella
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 34

+31.998

3'59.281

0.052 205.004
53
Proton Competition LMGT3
88 Italy G. Roda
M. Pedersen
Norway D. Olsen
Ford Mustang GT3 31

+32.035

3'59.318

0.037 204.972
54
TEAM WRT LMGT3
31
D. Leung
Indonesia S. Gelael Brazil A. Farfus
BMW M4 GT3 33

+32.100

3'59.383

0.065 204.916
55
JMW Motorsport LMGT3
66 Italy G. Petrobelli Netherlands L. ten Voorde Turkey S. Yoluc Ferrari 296 GT3 33

+32.189

3'59.472

0.089 204.840
56
Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3
92
A. Malykhin
J. Sturm
Austria K. Bachler
Porsche 911 GT3 R 33

+32.238

3'59.521

0.049 204.798
57
Heart of Racing Team LMGT3
27 United Kingdom I. James Italy D. Mancinelli Spain A. Riberas Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 33

+32.423

3'59.706

0.185 204.640
58
IRON DAMES LMGT3
85 Belgium S. Bovy Denmark M. Gatting Switzerland R. Frey Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 26

+32.456

3'59.739

0.033 204.612
59
Proton Competition LMGT3
44 United Kingdom J. Hartshorne United Kingdom B. Tuck Germany C. Mies Ford Mustang GT3 31

+32.774

4'00.057

0.318 204.341
60
TF Sport LMGT3
81 Belgium T. Van Rompuy Portugal R. Andrade Ireland C. Eastwood Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 29

+34.291

4'01.574

1.517 203.058
61
HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR
12 United Kingdom W. Stevens France N. Nato United Kingdom C. Ilott Porsche 963 0

 

   
62
INCEPTION RACING LMGT3
70 United States B. Iribe United Kingdom O. Millroy Switzerland F. Schandorff McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 4

 

   
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