24h Le Mans
The wait is over - the 94th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is less than a week away, but to fuel the excitement for the on track proceedings, the opening Sunday is the Test Day with two Free Practice sessions, both three hours in duration - with teams able to eye the competition and throw down plenty of kilometres on the Circuit de la Sarthe for the first time this year.
For most teams, today's running is to gain crucial kilometres ahead of the official Free Practice and Qualifying sessions later in the week. Unlike other circuits - Circuit de la Sarthe can only be driven once a year so it is important for drivers to reacquaint themselves with the speed, track surface conditions and unique nature of the circuit. For teams, they will be getting their heads around tyre choices, aerodynamic balance and the ultimate set-up for qualifying as well as the blueprint for the race itself.
As the clock struck 10:00 local time, the Le Mans air was filled with the sound of endurance racing machines once again. The #15 BMW M-Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng had the honour of leading the 62 car field out of the pitlane and onto the track for the very first time in 2026.
Cadillac stole the opening march in the first Free Practice session in 2026, with first, the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA machine driven by Will Stevens drawing first blood before the sister #101 Wayne Taylor Racing car driven by Filipe Albuquerque stealing the bragging rights at the death.
Home hopes were also ignited as Alpine who had been lingering in the top 10, flashed into second with Charles Milesi behind the wheel of the A424.
It was to be a fairly incident-free opening session at Le Mans with the first Free Practice session a prime opportunity for all 62-teams to get vital time out on track.
However, with a little under 30 minutes remaining the #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid Hypercar and the #25 Algarve Pro Racing LMP2 machine had a coming together on the run up to the Goodyear Bridge. Both drivers walked away unharmed but that created a 15-minute window of opportunity.
During the course of the three-hour test, it wasn’t only the drivers and teams in action. The legion of circuit marshals were also in action today and several Full Course Yellow and Safety Car simulations were organised, to prepare everyone for the race week ahead.
With a couple of support race sessions before the Le Mans entrants took to the track, the circuit rubbered in nicely - allowing quick lap times from beginning. The #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie in the hands of Harry Tincknell was the first to dip under the 3:30 barrier with a flurry of cars from Alpine, Cadillac and Toyota following in hot pursuit.
The #009 Aston Martin of Marco Sørensen leapfrogged the sister car with a sub 3:29 before Cadillac roared to the front with a sub 3:28 - lowering the bar to 3:27:843 in the hands of Will Stevens. The gold, American Cadillac V-Series R run by British firm JOTA Sport held the top spot for the majority of the session before a flury of aciticty once the session resumed after the red flag. Filipe Albuquerque stole the show with a 3:27.011 in the last few moments of the session, with the #35 Alpine of Charles Milesi also sneaking infront of the #12 Cadillac.
Elsewhere, at one point, there were five manufacturers in the top six spots with Cadillac leading Alpine, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Toyota on the time sheets.
Meanwhile, the 2025 race winners - the #83 Ferrari 499P ended the session 14th but were one of the high-profile teams to receive a stop-go penalty in the session for going over track limits - while searching for those vital tenths on the stopwatch.
Crowdstrike Racing by APR stole the initial march in LMP2 before AF Corse took on the mantle as LMP2 session topper. The Italian team were the first to dive under the 3.36 mark with their ORECA chalking up a 3:35.526 at the fall of the flag ahead of the aforementioned Crowdstrike Racing car in third with Inter Europol getting in on the action in second.
The #3 DKR Engineering car had a difficult session, with the Luxembourg time taking a trip into the gravel early in the session and towards the end of the three hours, receiving a stop-go repercussion for track limits.
In the LMGT3 class, Garage 59 held the early pace with a 1-2 in their McLaren 720s LMGT3 Evos - but it was to be Vista AF Corse who captured the early bragging rights at the top of the table with its Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo with a 3:57.366. Racing Spirit of Leman showed Aston Martin are competitive on all fronts at Le Mans this year with the #59 car second ahead of the Akkodis ASP Team in third. The category is always incredibly close throughout - with the first ten cars in class separated by less than a second.
There was a new shape and sound around the 13.626km venue for the first time today. Making its Le Mans debut - the Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar. Cameras were at the ready, as they rolled out with the other 16 Hypercars on Sunday morning. André Lotterer in the #17 machine and Daniel Juncadella in the #19 had the honour of giving the South Korean marque their Le Mans on track debut. Between the two fiery orange coloured machines, they amassed 67 laps between them - and a best time of 3:28.738. We look forward to seeing how they progress over the week.
Top 5 Classification
1. Cadillac V-Series.R #101 Cadillac WTR – Ricky Taylor / Jordan Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque - 3:27.011
2.Alpine A424 #35 Alpine Endurance Team – António Félix Da Costa / Charles Milesi / Ferdinand Habsburg - 3:27.339
3. Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Louis Delétraz / Will Stevens / Norman Nato - 3:27.843
4. Aston Martin Valkyrie #009 Aston Martin THOR Team – Alex Riberas / Marco Sørensen / Roman De Angelis - 3:28.086
5. Ferrari 499P #50 Ferrari-AF Corse – Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina - 3:28.291
Fastest times in the LMP2 and LMGT3 categories:
>> Find the complete results <<
The Test Day continues with the second of two Free Practice sessions starting at 15:30 local time later today.
