24h Le Mans
Aston Martin were back at the top of the timesheets at Le Mans. The sweet-sounding, crowd favourite with Harry Tincknell at the wheel set the fastest time at Circuit de la Sarthe in 2026… so far…
The second Free Practice session of the day, a second chance for teams to gather another round of data to help fine tune set-ups ahead of their race simulations, scenarios and qualifying procedures later in the week.
At 15:30 local time - the clock began to countdown and a magnificent sight of 62 Hypercars, LMP2 and LMGT3 cars rolled down the pitlane and out onto the 13.626km circuit in the Sunday afternoon sun.
Aston Martin were back at the top of the timesheets at Le Mans. The sweet-sounding crowd favourite with Harry Tincknell set the fastest time (3:26.293) at Circuit de la Sarthe in 2026… so far… Toyota, Cadillac and Alpine were all in hot pursuit, as defending champions Ferrari struggled to show their hand on the opening day.
The morning milestone of 3.27.011 was instantly lowered from the word go, as the Alpine Endurance Team in the opening handful of laps went under the 3.27 mark with the first 3.26 of the week - Charles Milesi picking up from his strong morning showing with a 3:26.990 in the #35 A424. The #12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac, still sore after being pipped at the post in the morning, backed up its earlier pace, edging the order to the tune of 3:26.853 at the end of the first hour.
A brief Full Course Yellow at the start of the second hour was launched to clear some on track debris, but shortly after, the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie deployed operation 'licence to thrill' by giving the British fans a moment to cheer as Harry Tincknell went fastest with a 3:26.293 in the V12 machine.
After the disaster in the first session - the #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid which made contact with two slower cars to bring out the red flag - bounced back this afternoon as Kiwi Brendon Hartley showed his hand to also join the 3.26 club. While the #12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac and #35 Alpine were the only other cars to go under 3.27.
The brand-new for 2026 Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar continued to find its feet at Circuit de la Sarthe, with the South Korean manufacturer finding almost a second in performance in one session alone - with the #15 car just ahead of the #17.
Nielsen Racing with Edward Perason at the controls came out of the traps quickest in LMP2 with AF Corse right in the wheel-tracks. AF Corse turned the screw at the end of the first hour to leapfrog themselves back to the top for most of the session. However, it was the #28 IDEC Sport car produced the late, late show with a time that went fastest at the fall of the flag - 3:35.344 the final marker ahead of #14 TDS Racing and #183 AF Corse in a breakaway front three.
ELMS frontrunners Forestier Racing by Panis showed a turn of speed to nestle themselves in fourth ahead of Doriane Pin's Duqueine Team in fifth.
A brief Full Course Yellow at the start of the second hour was launched when the #44 Proton Competition car visited the gravel - thankfully there was no damage to the Felbermayr-liveried machine and it was able to resume, shaking out the gravel on the apron on the way up to the Goodyear Bridge.
Sean Gelael pushed his BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo run by Team WRT to the front in the early stages but the #91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche would get into its stride and blast into the 3.56 window with a 3:36.655 early doors - dragging the #33 Corvette run by TF Sport with it - just two tenths behind. Leaving it later than last time, the Vista AF Corse team were on a roll with the #54 machine topping the session for the Maranello marque. #91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche ran them hard... very hard - just a hundredth between them as the #33 TF Sport Corvette made it three manufacturers in the top three.
And finally, in Free Practice 2, all 62 cars went underneath the magic four-minute marker for the first time as every team gathered their confidence and pace behind the wheel on the opening day here at Le Mans.
All eyes are on the defending champions the #83 AF Corse team. The bright yellow machine helped carry AF Corse to the honour of first privateer team to win the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in 19 years last year. 2025 Le Mans winner Phil Hanson spoke ahead of the Test Day, underlining the importance of the race, and whether things are any different coming into the 2026 edition now as a race winner.
“In the approach, nothing is different, you prepare like any race, but when you come back, it's special and it brings back all the special memories - they all come flooding back. Le Mans is the highlight of the year regardless of what happened 12 months ago, and it's a race I always look forward to. It’s a privilege to represent a brand such as Ferrari - with the history it has. The Tifosi travel the globe, and no matter where you are in the world, the pressure is there, but the support is always incredible to go with it, and you really feel that here at Le Mans - and that is special as a driver.”
Top 5 Classification :
1. Aston Martin Valkyrie #007 Aston Martin THOR Team – Harry Tincknell / Tom Gamble / Ross Gun - 3:26.293
2. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Sébastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa - 3:26.401
3. Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Louis Delétraz / Will Stevens / Norman Nato - 3:26.853
4. Alpine A424 #35 Alpine Endurance Team – António Félix Da Costa / Charles Milesi / Ferdinand Habsburg - 3:26.938
5. Alpine A424 #36 Alpine Endurance Team – Frédéric Makowiecki / Jules Gounon / Victor Martins - 3:27.017
Fastest times in the LMP2 and LMGT3 categories:
>>> Find the complete results <<<
The 62 cars that make up the 24 Hours of Le Mans grid will next hit the track on Wednesday 10th June with Free Practice 1 in the afternoon and Free Practice 2 in the evening - providing drivers the chance to acclimatise to driving these high-performance cars at night. A spectacle we cannot wait for! Join us then for all the action.
