LE MANS 24H: PORSCHE BEATS FERRARI IN OPENING NIGHT PRACTICE
Laurens Vanthoor went quickest with just over 30 minutes of the two-hour night session remaining on Wednesday aboard his Porsche 963 LMDh to beat Ferrari driver James Calado’s mark by three tenths.
Vanthoor posted a 3m29.157s to go quickest aboard the only one of the three Porsche Penske Motorsport entries not to make it through to the Hypercar qualifying session for the double-points round of the World Endurance Championship.
That put him just seven hundredths up on Calado before he made a further improvement to get down to 3m28.878s.
Calado had been quickest with a 3m29.225s set at the start of the session.
Porsche backed up its upturn in form in the WEC by taking third position courtesy of a 3m29.307s from Dane Cameron.
Cadillac took fourth position, Earl Bamber posting a 3m29.545s to end up seven tenths off the pace aboard the Ganassi team’s full-season WEC entry with the V-Series.R LMDh.
Kamui Kobayashi jumped to fifth place in the best of the Toyota GR010 HYBRIDs right at the end of the session with a 3m29.624s.
The Jota Porsche customer team managed a series of quick times after failing to complete a flying lap in first qualifying.
Will Stevens made a late improvement on Antonio Felix da Costa’s previous best with a 3m29.784s to propel the car from eighth to sixth.
The Action Express Racing Cadillac team ended up seventh fastest after failing to make it through to Hyperpole, Jack Aitken getting down to a 3m29.846s.
Ferrari’s second 499P was eighth courtesy of a 3m30.086s from Nicklas Nielsen.
The top 10 in the Hypercar class was rounded out by Olivier Pla in the best of the Glickenhaus-Pipo 007 LMHs and Renger van der Zande in the second Ganassi-run Cadillac Racing entry.
Mirko Bortolotti jumped to the top of the order in LMP2 with just minutes left on the clock in his Prema ORECA-Gibson 07.
He posted a 3m36.863s, two tenths up on United Autosports driver Filipe Albuquerque, another late improver with a 3m37.079s.
Albuquerque beat Jota ORECA driver Pietro Fittipaldi, who had been fastest in class for much of the session, into third place.
#24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 of Jimmie Johnson, Mike Rockenfeller, Jenson Button
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
The NASCAR Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 lapped in 3m51.904s in this session, as its drivers ensured its lights system was in full working order.
Kessel Ferrari driver Kei Cozzolino jumped to the top of the order in GTE Am as the chequered flag was shown on the stroke of midnight.
His 3m53.796s aboard the CarGuy-backed Ferrari 488 GTE Evo beat Iron Lynx Porsche driver Alessio Picariello into second by three tenths.
The WEC cars will return to the track for three hours of free practice at 15:00 local time on Thursday, with the half-hour Hyperpole session starting at 20:00.
Le Mans 24 Hours - Free Practice 2 results:
| 1 | 6 | Laurens Vanthoor | Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 3'28.878 | |
| 2 | 51 | James Calado | Ferrari 499P | Hypercar | 3'29.225 | 0.347 |
| 3 | 5 | Dane Cameron | Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 3'29.307 | 0.429 |
| 4 | 2 | Earl Bamber | Cadillac V-Series.R | Hypercar | 3'29.545 | 0.667 |
| 5 | 7 | Kamui Kobayashi | Toyota GR010 - Hybrid | Hypercar | 3'29.624 | 0.746 |
| 6 | 38 | Antonio Felix da Costa Will Stevens | Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 3'29.784 | 0.906 |
| 7 | 311 | Jack Aitken Pipo Derani | Cadillac V-Series.R | Hypercar | 3'29.846 | 0.968 |
| 8 | 50 | Nicklas Nielsen | Ferrari 499P | Hypercar | 3'30.086 | 1.208 |
| 9 | 708 | Olivier Pla | Glickenhaus 007 LMH | Hypercar | 3'30.172 | 1.294 |
| 10 | 3 | Sebastien Bourdais Renger van der Zande | Cadillac V-Series.R | Hypercar | 3'30.238 | 1.360 |
| 11 | 8 | Sebastien Buemi | Toyota GR010 - Hybrid | Hypercar | 3'30.500 | 1.622 |
| 12 | 75 | Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 3'30.740 | 1.862 | |
| 13 | 94 | Loïc Duval | Peugeot 9X8 | Hypercar | 3'30.800 | 1.922 |
| 14 | 93 | Peugeot 9X8 | Hypercar | 3'30.823 | 1.945 | |
| 15 | 709 | Nathanaël Berthon | Glickenhaus 007 LMH | Hypercar | 3'31.196 | 2.318 |
| 16 | 4 | Esteban Guerrieri | Vanwall Vandervell 680 | Hypercar | 3'35.147 | 6.269 |
| 17 | 63 | Mirko Bortolotti Daniil Kvyat Doriane Pin | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'36.863 | 7.985 |
| 18 | 22 | Filipe Albuquerque Frederick Lubin | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'37.079 | 8.201 |
| 19 | 28 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'37.855 | 8.977 |
| 20 | 23 | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'38.153 | 9.275 | |
| 21 | 43 | Tom van Rompuy Ugo De Wilde | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'38.275 | 9.397 |
| 22 | 14 | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'38.330 | 9.452 | |
| 23 | 34 | Albert Costa | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'38.399 | 9.521 |
| 24 | 9 | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'38.890 | 10.012 | |
| 25 | 923 | Tom Gamble | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'39.036 | 10.158 |
| 26 | 36 | Matthieu Vaxivière | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'39.450 | 10.572 |
| 27 | 37 | Alexandre Coigny Malthe Jakobsen | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'39.507 | 10.629 |
| 28 | 65 | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'39.797 | 10.919 | |
| 29 | 31 | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'39.818 | 10.940 | |
| 30 | 45 | Colin Braun George Kurtz | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'40.185 | 11.307 |
| 31 | 47 | Vlad Lomko Simon Pagenaud | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'40.221 | 11.343 |
| 32 | 30 | Nicolas Pino | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'40.272 | 11.394 |
| 33 | 39 | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'40.361 | 11.483 | |
| 34 | 35 | Olli Caldwell André Negrão | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'41.018 | 12.140 |
| 35 | 41 | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'41.074 | 12.196 | |
| 36 | 48 | Paul Loup Chatin | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'41.301 | 12.423 |
| 37 | 10 | Matthias Kaiser | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'41.678 | 12.800 |
| 38 | 32 | Mark Kvamme | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'42.133 | 13.255 |
| 39 | 80 | Ben Barnicoat | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'43.191 | 14.313 |
| 40 | 24 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 | INNOVATIVE CAR | 3'51.904 | 23.026 |
| 41 | 74 | Kei Cozzolino Yorikatsu Tsujiko Naoki Yokomizo | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'53.796 | 24.918 |
| 42 | 60 | Alessio Picariello Claudio Schiavoni | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'54.080 | 25.202 |
| 43 | 56 | PJ Hyett Gunnar Jeannette | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'54.172 | 25.294 |
| 44 | 54 | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'54.585 | 25.707 | |
| 45 | 77 | Mikkel Pedersen | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'54.639 | 25.761 |
| 46 | 85 | Sarah Bovy Rahel Frey Michelle Gatting | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'54.753 | 25.875 |
| 47 | 33 | Nicky Catsburg Nicolas Varrone | Chevrolet Corvette C8.R | LMGTE AM | 3'54.764 | 25.886 |
| 48 | 57 | Scott Huffaker Takeshi Kimura | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'54.792 | 25.914 |
| 49 | 83 | Luis Perez Companc | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'54.896 | 26.018 |
| 50 | 88 | Jonas Ried Don Yount | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'55.075 | 26.197 |
| 51 | 911 | Michael Fassbender Martin Rump | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'55.191 | 26.313 |
| 52 | 100 | Andrew Haryanto Chandler Hull Jeffrey Segal | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'55.241 | 26.363 |
| 53 | 98 | Ian James Daniel Mancinelli Alex Riberas | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 3'55.831 | 26.953 |
| 54 | 25 | Ahmad Al Harthy Michael Dinan Charlie Eastwood | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 3'56.219 | 27.341 |
| 55 | 86 | Ben Barker Riccardo Pera | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'56.371 | 27.493 |
| 56 | 21 | Simon Mann Ulysse De Pauw Julien Piguet | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'56.616 | 27.738 |
| 57 | 72 | Valentin Hasse-Clot Arnold Robin Maxime Robin | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 3'56.753 | 27.875 |
| 58 | 55 | Gustav Birch Jens Reno Møller Marco Sørensen | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 3'57.220 | 28.342 |
| 59 | 16 | Ryan Hardwick Jan Heylen Zacharie Robichon | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'57.803 | 28.925 |
| 60 | 66 | Neubauer Thomas Giacomo Petrobelli Louis Prette | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'58.307 | 29.429 |