The #6 Porsche will line up on pole position after Kevin Estre topped Thursday’s Hyperpole session, with the #3 Cadillac that was qualified by Sebastien Bourdais completing the front row.Alex Lynn had actually set a quicker time than Bourdais in the 30-minute pole shootout, but the #2 Caddy has a five-place grid penalty carried forward from the Spa round of WEC, where team-mate Earl Bamber was …Keep reading
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Thursday’s decisive qualifying session, gathering the top eight cars from each category, was interrupted with just under eight minutes remaining on the clock, due to Dries Vanthoor crashing out at the wheel of the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 at Indianapolis corner.
At that time, Sebastien Bourdais had provisionally set the fastest time with the #3 Cadillac V-Series.R, a 3m24.816s.
During the red flag, seconds before the session was restarted, members of the Chip Ganassi-run factory team – which usually operates the car in the IMSA Sportscar Championship – were seen celebrating around their driver, whose father Patrick looked particularly elated.
Patrick Bourdais with Cadillac Racing team members
Photo by: Nikolaz Godet
However, as it turned out, not only the session was restarted, but Bourdais’s reference was beaten by Alex Lynn in the sister #2 Cadillac – a full-season World Endurance Championship entrant – as well as Kevin Estre. The #6 factory Penske Porsche’s driver took pole position for the WEC’s most prestigious race with a 3m24.634s marker.
When Motorsport.com asked Bourdais if he actually was celebrating, the Le Mans native replied: «No. If anything, I was telling everyone: ‘There are seven minutes and 40 seconds left, I don’t know why you’re here asking me for pictures.’
«That’s quite funny, because when we weren’t on pole, nobody was there anymore. It was funny, but it’s quite typical from the press.»
Bourdais explained that he would have liked to go back out on track for a final attempt, but a combination of extending his initial run and the red flag interrupting his second outing prevented him from doing so.
#3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Sebastien Bourdais
Photo by: Nikolaz Godet
«We had planned enough fuel to do two and two [laps],» he added. «Because the in-lap was faster during the first run, we kept pushing as there was a risk of rain and there were a few drops already, so you didn’t really know what was going to happen. That third lap of the first run was three or four tenths faster, so we kept going until the end.
«Unfortunately, as you’re not allowed to refuel during Hyperpole, this left us with just one lap for the second attempt, but the red flag happened…
«I don’t think I could have got a better time in one lap on the second run, but we were going to try anyway, and the red flag was completely detrimental to us in that regard. We couldn’t have done another out-lap, a flying lap and hoped to be fine. That’s how it was.»
Bourdais and team-mates Scott Dixon and Renger van der Zande will start the race from second position on Saturday, with the #2 Cadillac taking a five-place penalty due to Earl Bamber’s crash with the #31 BMW LMGT3 car at the previous Spa-Francorchamps WEC round.
The timeframe of the rules, which make up the respective Hypercar and GTP classes in the two series, has been extended for reasons of stability, according to both the WEC and IMSA.
Richard Mille, president of the FIA Endurance Commission, told Motorsport.com: “Stability is very important. It is the reason why we have all these manufacturers in Hypercar, that and the reasonable costs involved.
“We want to avoid obsoleting the cars: we need stability but at the same time flexibility, which is why we have the system of evo jokers so that manufacturers can evolve their cars.”
IMSA boss John Doonan said: “This is important for the manufacturers involved from a stability point of view, but it also creates opportunities for manufacturers looking at potentially coming into the GTP class.”
LMH rules came on stream in the WEC in 2021 with a five-year lifecycle, which was extended by two years when the LMDh cars arrived in 2023.
#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
The move was announced at the traditional pre-Le Mans 24 Hours press conference held by WEC co-organiser the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.
The ACO and the FIA gave further details in the timeline for the introduction of hydrogen-fuelled cars into the Hypercar category.
The rules will be in place to allow a manufacturer to go for overall victory at Le Mans by 2028 when the two bodies are expecting the arrival of the first entrants with the zero-emissions fuel.
The existing LMP2 formula will also be extended for a further year until the end of 2027, the ACO has confirmed.
ACO president Pierre Fillon said: LMP2 is a key category for the ACO and we must absolutely protect it.
“We talked to all the teams and it was agreed to extend the category until the end of 2027,” he said.
Fillon regularly talks of a pyramid of endurance in which LMP2 plays an important part, even with its disappearance from the full WEC this year.
It remains the top category in the European and Asian Le Mans Series and is also an important component of the prototype grid in IMSA.
The current cars will be replaced by a new breed in 2028 that will have a downsized engine and will be lighter.
A one-year extension means that the current regulations will have had a 11-year lifecycle.
The rules, which demand the use of the one-make 4.2-litre Gibson V8 engine, were introduced ahead of 2017, initially with a four-year span.
There were a series of extensions, the latest of which was confirmed last October when it was announced that Gibson Technologies would continue as the engine provider at a new introduction date for the next-generation of P2 car in 2026.
LMP2 has become a de facto one-make category for the ORECA 07 chassis as rival chassis developed by Dallara, Ligier and Riley/Multimatic proved unable to match its performance.
Plans for the regulation change, exclusively revealed by Autosport in March, were confirmed by WEC organisers the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and the FIA at the former’s traditional Friday press conference ahead of this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours round of the WEC.
The chairman of the FIA’s Endurance Commission Richard Mille said: «It makes sense for a world championship. Each manufacturer should have two cars.
«We want manufacturers to bring something serious. Another factor is the Balance of Performance, you need the data of two cars.»
The new rule will go hand in hand with an expansion of the WEC grid from 37 cars to 40 for 2025.
Series boss Frederic Lequien revealed the 40-car target last year and this was also confirmed at the press conference.
The Hypercar manufacturers that will have to react to the two-car rule are Cadillac, Lamborghini and Isotta Fraschini, which are all running solo cars this year, and 2025 newcomer Aston Martin.
Aston announced one-car entries with a non-hybrid prototype to be known as the Valkyrie AMR-LMH in both WEC and the IMSA SportsCar Championship on the launch of the project last October, but stressed last month that its plans would not be derailed by any rule change.
It has now put out a statement, timed to coincide with the ACO press conference, confirming the intent for its factory Heart of Racing team to field a pair of Valkyries in WEC.
Adam Carter, Aston’s head of endurance motorsport, said: “In 2025 with our works team Heart of Racing, we intend to put two Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMHs on the grid to compete alongside a fantastic array of the world’s best sportscar manufacturers.”
Aston Martin Valkyrie
Photo by: Aston Martin
Laura Wontrop Klauser, head of sportscar racing at Cadillac parent company General Motors, told Autosport that the marque will “react to the regulations as they come”.
It looks certain that the British Jota team will swap over from customer Porsche 963 LMDhs to become Cadillac’s factory team running two V-Series.Rs next year.
Lamborghini, which is represented by the Iron Lynx team, outlined an intent to go to two cars in WEC in 2025 as long ago as the launch of the car last July.
Isotta Fraschini, which joined the WEC this year in conjunction with the French Duqueine team, has also spoken about its expansion plans.
Claudio Berro, motorsport boss at Isotta, explained that the priority is to work with Duqueine on a second Tipo 6 Competizione LMH.
“It is not in our mind to look for another team at the moment,” he told Motorsport.com.
The Le Mans 24 Hours is scheduled for 14-15 June, with the pre-event Test Day on the preceding Sunday. It means the race will clash with the F1 Canadian GP and IndyCar’s St Louis round at Gateway.
It is the first time F1 and Le Mans have clashed since 2016.
Meanwhile, Imola has renewed what was originally a one-year deal covering 2024 to retain the Italian round of the series for a further four years, with a public signing of the contract at Friday’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
The WEC switched from Monza to Imola this year because the home of the Italian Grand Prix was undergoing major paddock works.
The limited number of garages, one less than the 37 cars on this year’s entry, had been seen as an obstacle to Imola’s continuation as part of the series.
The WEC has stressed the importance of the support of the local municipality in making the new deal happen.
Mayor Marco Panieri described the agreement between the WEC and the circuit “as a fantastic opportunity for the city of Imola”.
“Thanks to this event we will be able to improve infrastructure like [pit] boxes and the fan zone, making visitors and staff experience more enjoyable,” he said.
Fans at Imola
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The 2025 WEC incorporates the same eight events in the same order as this year.
The Le Mans 24 Hours is scheduled for 14-15 June, with the pre-event Test Day on the preceding Sunday. It means the race will clash with the F1 Canadian GP and IndyCar’s St Louis round at Gateway.
Pierre Fillon president of WEC co-organiser the Automobile Club de l’Ouest told Motorsport.com last month that there were no plans to expand to nine races for “because of costs”.
Richard Mille, president of the FIA Endurance Commission, said that the WEC was adopting an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality.
“The eight rounds that we know from this year offer a great mixture of well-established circuits,” he said.
“They give the series presence in both Americas, Asia, Europe and in the Middle East, providing the perfect stage for the events of the golden era of endurance racing to unfold.”
The WEC’s return to Austin for the first time since 2017 in September of this year will be extended into a second season at least.
That always seemed likely once Roger Penske ruled out the series visiting his Indianapolis venue in ’25 as a result of scheduling reasons, a statement he made in March.
He has aspirations to bring the WEC to a facility he took over in 2020, a desire he first revealed back in 2022.
The 2025 WEC will kick off in Qatar with a late February date, rather than in early March this year, because Ramadan falls earlier in 2025.
The race will again be a 1812km event, a nod to Qatar’s national day on 18 December, with a maximum duration of eight hours.
The pre-season Prologue test will take place one week in advance of the race at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit.
The Le Mans 24 Hours is scheduled for 14/15 June, with the pre-event Test Day on the preceding Sunday.
After the three rounds in Europe concluded by the Le Mans 24 Hours in mid-June, Interlagos in Sao Paolo, Austin, Fuji and Bahrain again make up the post-Le Mans swing of the championship.
The calendar was ratified by the FIA World Motor Sport Council this week.
28 February Qatar 1812Km (QAT)
20 April Imola 6 Hours (ITA)
10 May Spa 6 Hours (BEL)
14-15 June Le Mans 24 Hours (FRA)
13 July Sao Paulo 6 Hours (BRA)
7 September Austin 6 Hours (USA)
28 September Fuji 6 Hous (JPN)
8 November Bahrain 8 Hours (BAH)
Brendan Iribe topped the Hyperpole session in his McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, entered under the Inception Racing banner, with a 3m58.120s lap that put him 0.808s clear of Alexander Malykhin’s #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche that leads the LMGT3 standings in the WEC.
The Optimum-run Inception outfit that competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and GT World Challenge Europe earned an invitational entry to Le Mans after Iribe, who shares with Ollie Millroy and Frederik Schandorff, finished as the best-placed bronze driver in IMSA’s GTD ranking last season.
Team boss Shaun Goff told Motorsport.com that he was optimistic his squad could go toe-to-toe with the WEC regulars in the championship’s blue ribband event, in the first outing for McLaren at La Sarthe since 1998.
«Qualifying is about a small part of the package, really,» Goff said. «The team will show its strength in the race on Saturday and Sunday.
«If we can stay out of the box, we’ve certainly got the drivers and the team to go against the WEC regulars.
«We love a challenge and McLaren deserve to be on the grid. Hopefully we can pull all that together for Sunday.
«I can’t be more proud of everyone at the moment, so I’m pretty stoked.»
#70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo: Brendan Iribe, Ollie Millroy, Frederik Schandorff
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Iribe set two laps quick enough for pole on his third appearance at Le Mans, spinning while set to improve in the Ford Chicane shortly before a red flag caused by Dries Vanthoor’s BMW M V8 Hybrid LMDh crashing at Indianapolis.
The American was the only driver to improve following the red flag.
«The whole team are buzzing for him, he’s a mega hard-working guy and he deserves that pole position,» added Goff.
«He’s a super positive guy, Brendan. He’s quite experienced now, and he kept his cool and just did the job. He was having fun out there.»
Neither of the two United Autosport McLarens entered in the full WEC made the Hyperpole session, and will start from 11th and 19th positions, although the #59 car topped Friday’s FP3 session.
Estre was the last Hypercar runner to cross the chequered flag and clocked a time of 3m24.634s in the #6 factory Porsche Penske 963, overhauling the #2 Cadillac of Alex Lynn and the sister #3 car that had led for the majority of the 30 minute session in the hands of Sebastien Bourdais.
Bourdais had set the initial pace in the pole shootout with a time of 3m25.294s in the additional entry fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing at Le Mans, before staying out in the first run and improving to a 3m24.816s.
All cars were back out on track for their second run when Dries Vanthoor suffered a heavy hit to the barriers going into Indianapolis, causing the red flag and leaving the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 that had topped the first qualifying session out of the fight for pole position.
Bourdais elected to sit out when Hyperpole resumed with just under eight minutes left on the clock, with his initial effort appearing to be enough to claim pole position for Cadillac.
An improvement for Alex Lynn in the sister #2 V-Series.R entry provisionally made it a 1-2 for Cadillac, but Estre spoiled the party for the General Motors brand with his last ditch effort as he narrowly claimed pole for Porsche by 0.148s.
The two Ganassi-run Cadillacs will now line up second and third, with the two factory Ferraris the next up in fourth and fifth. Alessandro Pier Guidi was the quicker of the two 499Ps, the #51 machine, heading the sister car qualified by Antonio Fuoco by over four tenths of a second, who aborted his final run after a mistake at the Dunlop Chicane.
The sole Alpine A424 that progressed into the final leg of qualifying took sixth with Paul-Loup Chatin, ending up just over a second off the pace of polesitter Estre.
Only seven Hypercar entries took part in the pole shootout, with Jota still rebuilding its #12 Porsche 963 LMDh after Callum Ilott damaged the original chassis in night practice on Wednesday.
The first of the two Jota Porsches is set to line up seventh on the grid, with the #15 BMW that Vanthoor crashed ending up eighth.
In LMP2, Louis Deletraz claimed pole position with a brilliant effort of 3m33.217s in the #14 AO by TF ORECA-GIBSON 07 that is entered in the Pro-Am subclass.
That put him six tenths clear of Job van Uitert in the #28 IDEC Sport entry, with Mathias Beche taking third in the #65 Panis Racing Oreca.
Deletraz was already leading the LMP2 field when the session was halted for Vanthoor’s Hypercar crash, but the Swiss driver managed to find even more time on his final run to secure pole position in the intermediate class.
Wednesday qualifying pacesetter Malthe Jakobsen made no improvement in the final minutes, consigning the #37 Cool Racing entry to sixth among the eight Hyperpole runners.
Inception Racing’s Brendon Iribe took top honours in the LMGT3 division despite wrecking a quick lap with a spin coming out of the final chicane.
Iribe managed to deliver a late improvements in the #70 McLaren 720S GT3 to qualify eight tenths clear of the chasing pack, led by championship leader Aliaksandr Malykhin in the #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Giacomo Petrobelli finished just 0.010s adrift of Malykhin in third in the #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3, making it two non-regular WEC cars inside the top three.
The pole shootout for the fourth round of the 2024 World Endurance Championship did not begin as scheduled at 8pm local time, with the race control subsequently communicating 8:30pm as the new start time.
The Hyperpole session was further pushed forward to 8:35pm, as the work continued on replacing the armco barriers between Mulsanne and Indianapolis.
The first of the two contests for the weekend was red-flagged with about 15 minutes left on the clock when Graff driver Louis Rossi heavily crashed his #9 Ligier JS P320 LMP3 car.
Rossi was able to get out of the car on his own, but both his car and the barriers sustained heavy damage in the contact.
No replays of the incident were shown and it remains clear if a technical problem was to blame for the crash. An accident with another car can also not be ruled out.
#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman, Yifei Ye
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
Eight cars from each of the three classes are due to take part in Hyperpole, which will decide how they will line up on the grid for the 92th running of the French endurance classic.
However, only seven vehicles will effectively be contending for pole position in Hypercar, with Jota sitting out the session as it rebuilds its #12 Porsche 963 around a new chassis.
The British team only got through into Q2 after Kamui Kobayashi lost all his laps in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid for causing a red flag. But Callum Ilott then suffered a crash of his own in night practice later on Wednesday, wrecking the Porsche tub beyond repair.
Dries Vanthoor had topped the opening segment of the qualifying in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, leading the #3 Cadillac V-Series.R of Sebastien Bourdais.
Malthe Jakobsen put the #37 Cool Racing ORECA-Gibson 07 on top in the LMP2 class, while the new LMGT3 division was led by Ben Barker in the #77 Proton Ford Mustang GT3.
Jota and WTR look certain to move over from Porsche and Acura respectively to replace Chip Ganassi Racing in the General Motors brand’s roster of teams.
Motorsport.com has learned that each has a deal in place to run two V-Series.R LMDhs in 2025, Jota in WEC and WTR in the North American IMSA series.
There has been no confirmation of the 2025 programmes from either team or from Cadillac, but it is understood that the contracts have at the least been agreed if not signed.
Laura Wontrop Klauser, who heads up GM’s sportscar racing programmes, refused to be drawn on its plans for next year in the wake of Ganassi’s announcement in March that it would be parting company with Cadillac after four seasons at the conclusion of this season.
«We do not have a timeline set for an announcement,» she told Motorsport.com. «It’s a TBD for both programmes at the moment.»
A new regulation exclusively revealed by Motorsport.com in March demanding that each manufacturer competing in the Hypercar class of the WEC must run two cars means that Cadillac will have to expand its programme for 2025.
#12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: William Stevens, Norman Nato, Callum Ilott
Photo by: Marc Fleury
Ganassi has represented the marque in WEC under the Cadillac Racing banner since 2023 with a single V-Series.R.
Klauser explained that Cadillac «will react to the regulations as they come».
Confirmation of the two-car rule in WEC next year is expected on Friday at the annual press conference hosted by Le Mans 24 Hours organiser and WEC co-organiser the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.
Jota team principal Sam Hignett said that «the focus for now is our 2024 campaign» when asked about the prospect of a move from a two-car customer programme with the Porsche 963 LMDh to a factory deal with Cadillac.
WTR boss Wayne Taylor, whose team linked up with the Andretti organisation for last season, insisted that a deal has yet to be done for his operation to move back to Cadillac after four years with Honda brand Acura.
«All I can say is that we have not signed anything and there is a simple reason for that: we remain under contract with Honda Performance Development [which masterminds the Acura ARX-06 LMDh programme].
«There are no contracts signed, but hopefully after Le Mans we can all get together and work things out for next year.»
#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
Cadillac has so far been represented in IMSA by two cars in the LMDh era that started last year.
A two-car deal for WTR would mean an expanded programme for Cadillac because Action Express Racing is expected to continue to run a solo V-Series.R.
Taylor has longstanding links with GM in sportscar racing.
WTR ran the Cadillac DPi-V.R in IMSA in 2017-2020 and before that a Dallara-Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype in Grand-Am and then the unified IMSA series.
As a driver, he raced Cadillac’s line of Northstar LMPs in 2000-02 and was one of the three key partners in the 3GR squad that ran the programme in its final two years.
#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
Meyer Shank Racing, meanwhile, appears to be moving towards a return to sportscar racing with Acura for a pair of ARX-06s run on a factory basis next year.
Shank fielded a solo Acura in IMSA in 2021-23, first a ARX-05 DPi and then an ARX-06 LMDh.
It won the championship in 2022 and then took a controversial win for the ARX-06 on debut at last year’s Daytona 24 Hours.
It was found to be manipulating tyre pressure data, but was only fined and lost manufacturers’ points for the infringement.
Its contract with Honda Racing Corporation USA and Acura was not renewed at the end of the season when WTR expanded to two cars.