Winners and losers from Le Mans 24 Hours qualifying

But the American manufacturer wasn’t the only one to make an impression during Thursday’s two Hyperpole sessions.

Winner: Cadillac

That’s what you call a clean sweep. After setting the best time in Wednesday evening’s qualifying practice thanks to Alex Lynn (Team Jota), Cadillac repeated the feat in Hyperpole 1 thanks to Jack Aitken (Action Express Racing), and again in Hyperpole 2, once more with Lynn.

Cadillac Team Jota even locked out the front row of the grid, with Earl Bamber snatching second place in Hyperpole 2 at the wheel of the #38 V-Series.R.

I’m truly honoured to be able to put in a performance like that in front of everyone and deliver the car to Cadillac how they deserve: in the first position, Lynn said.

“It’s a special feeling. I can’t describe it. It’s such a magical circuit, a wonderful place, and a place where I really try to perform my best. We’ll enjoy this tonight, have a good sleep, and reset.”

To find the last time an American manufacturer took pole position at Le Mans, you have to go back to 1967 with Ford. Another interesting stat: since the grid has been determined by lap times (1963), a car starting on the front row has a 40.31% chance of winning, and a 61.26% chance if starting from either of the first two rows.

Loser: Ferrari

Having shown strong pace since the test day, Ferrari saw two of its three 499Ps eliminated in Hyperpole 1: the #83 and #51. None of the three managed to beat the lap time set the previous day by the #51, a 3m23.163s. In Hyperpole 2, 2023 polesitter Antonio Fuoco only managed seventh, 1.047 seconds off the pole.

“The Hyperpole certainly didn’t go as we’d hoped, considering we didn’t make it into the top 10,” Antonio Giovinazzi explained.

“That said, it is a long race where anything can happen, and grid position isn’t such a determining factor.

“At the start, we’ll need to be careful and avoid any contact. From there, we’ll do everything we can to achieve the best possible result.”

A disappointing performance from the Italian camp, though Ferrari remains the clear favourite for the win, especially since the 499Ps have shown extremely promising race pace in free practice.

Winners: Porsche and BMW

Porsche, which once topped the timesheets, couldn’t complete a 1-2. Mathieu Jaminet put in an excellent lap of 3m23.475s in Hyperpole 2, but missed the front row by just 0.142s. With the #4 car in fifth, though, Porsche still came away with a strong overall result.

“To be honest, we hadn’t necessarily expected these starting positions,” said a delighted Urs Kuratle, Director of Factory Motorsport LMDh.

“Yesterday evening and during the night, the crew of our #5 still had a lot of work to do. It was a short night for everyone. So it’s all the better that we’ve now been rewarded for this effort with third place on the grid.

“Second and third row on the grid –  that’s a good starting position.”

At BMW M Team WRT, there were also plenty of smiles. BMW was the only brand to get all of its cars into Hyperpole 2, where Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon van der Linde ended up fourth and sixth, respectively.

“It was super close and nearly everybody needed a second set of tires in H1 to be sure to reach H2,” BMW M director Andreas Roos said.

“We were in the lucky situation to have both cars in H2. P4 with #15 and P6 with #20 is perfect. Starting from the second and third row with a 21-car Hypercar grid, we can be really happy.”

Loser: Toyota

With the #7 car failing to qualify for Hyperpole, Toyota’s hopes rested solely on the #8. After a promising sixth place in H1 with a 3m23.543s lap by Brendon Hartley, the black GR010 Hybrid could only manage 10th in H2.

“Brendon did a great job to get the car into Hyperpole 2 but unfortunately we couldn’t set any laps,” team-mate Sébastien Buemi explained.

“I locked the tyres into Mulsanne corner and ended up with a puncture, so I am disappointed with that. But we knew it would be difficult due to my very limited preparation in qualifying trim.

“Now we know we start 10th, which is not too bad considering the pace we had in qualifying on Wednesday. We have focused on getting the most out of the car for the race, that was our big priority this week.”

Indeed, Buemi never completed a single lap on low fuel and fresh tyres in free practice, which explains why he was caught out at Mulsanne. The best-placed Toyota will thus start 10th on Saturday.

Winner: Valentino Rossi

The new qualifying format, which requires a different driver to take part in H1 and H2, opened the door to various strategies. At Team WRT, the plan was to ensure a place in the top eight by putting Platinum-rated Kelvin van der Linde in H1.

But sending Valentino Rossi out in H2 against Gold and Platinum drivers was anything but an easy task for the MotoGP legend. Yet Rossi delivered an excellent performance, even beating Platinum drivers such as Maxime Martin (Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 #61 / Iron Lynx) and reigning winner Richard Lietz (Porsche 911 GT3 R #92 / Manthey 1st Phorm).

“We did a very good job and I’m very happy,” Rossi said. “I was in the middle of the pros, but my position on the track was great and I did a very good lap.

“P3 is a great position to start the race. The gap with the pole position is important, but we hope to be competitive during the race.”

In the end, he was only beaten by Mattia Drudi (Aston Martin Vantage AMR #27 / Heart of Racing) and Alessio Rovera (Ferrari 296 #21 / Vista AF Corse). Hats off.

Loser: Alpine

This one might be a bit harsh. Of the two A424s entered on Thursday, only one reached H2: the #36 of Mick Schumacher / Jules Gounon / Frédéric Makowiecki. After Schumacher placed fifth in H1, Makowiecki ended up only ninth in H2.

But the team was still positive about it.

“It was a positive qualifying,” said Makowiecki. “The team did a good job and we managed to gain performance. We had a few issues but worked to fix them. Without one or two small mistakes on my part, we could have done even better. But now we’re going to give everything to challenge our rivals during the race.”

And to erase memories of the 2024 disaster, when both A424s retired with engine failures before nightfall.