Former 2024 Le Mans co-driver of Kiwi Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, delivered a sensational late-session lap to claim provisional pole for the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, topping a fiercely competitive qualifying session on Thursday morning (NZT) in hot 31°C conditions at Circuit de la Sarthe.
Lynn’s blistering 3:22.847s lap in the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota V-Series.R came in the final two minutes of the 30-minute shootout, edging out the #15 BMW M Team WRT entry of Dries Vanthoor by just 0.04s.
The British driver’s lap was more than a second faster than last year’s pole time and ensures Cadillac will be a serious contender heading into Thursday’s Hyperpole.
The session saw a flurry of lead changes as Porsche, Cadillac, BMW and Ferrari all spent time at the top. Yifei Ye initially set the pace in the #83 Ferrari with a 3:23.994, ahead of Ferrari stablemates Alessandro Pier Guidi (#51) and Nicklas Nielsen (#50). But as track evolution ramped up, the order rapidly shuffled.
Behind Lynn and Vanthoor, Antonio Giovinazzi placed the #51 Ferrari third (+0.316s), followed by Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche Penske 963.
However, in a dramatic post-session twist, Estre’s car was disqualified for failing to meet minimum weight regulations, relegating the entry to the back of the 21-car Hypercar grid. All cars behind were promoted one spot as a result.
Among those benefitting from the reshuffle were two Kiwi entries who both secured places in the coveted Hyperpole shootout.
Earl Bamber, in the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota alongside Sébastien Bourdais (who drove in qualifying) and Jenson Button, posted a 3:23.467 – good enough for fifth fastest, and then elevated to fourth after the disqualification.
Brendon Hartley anchored the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID, co-driven by Sébastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa, to a time of 3:23.988 – originally 11th, and later promoted to 10th.
Hartley was satisfied with the team’s execution, though realistic about their pole chances.
“It was a well-executed session for our car. We did a clean banker on the first lap, and then I raised my game for the second, and it was a clean one. I couldn’t do much more; we just didn’t have the pace of the front runners.” said Hartley
“I am happy to get through to Hyperpole, but unless the track conditions change, it doesn’t look like we will be fighting for pole position. On a positive note, the long runs in first practice look relatively strong, and that must be the priority for us.”
One of the most notable absentees from Hyperpole was Toyota’s sister car, the #7 GR010 of Nyck de Vries, Kamui Kobayashi, and Mike Conway, in which De Vries narrowly missed the cut in 17th (later promoted to 16th). A poorly timed yellow flag caught out De Vries on his best lap, and despite a final attempt, the tyres had lost their edge.
“It was obviously disappointing to end up outside the top 15 in qualifying when we had the potential to progress. I had the yellow flag on my best lap, which was very unlucky because that would have been quick enough to go through, I think.” said De Vries
“I had to try another lap, but I lost the peak performance of the tyres, so everything became more difficult. It was still going to be a decent lap time, probably enough for Hyperpole, but I caught another car into the last chicane, and that was it.”
The #009 Aston Martin of Marco Sørensen, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis initially edged the #7 Toyota out of the top 15 but were in turn, bumped out themselves by the #4 Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy and Pascal Wehrlein, who claimed the final Hyperpole berth before also being promoted to 15th following the #6 Porsche’s disqualification.
Elsewhere in Hypercar, Peugeot struggled with single-lap pace. The #94 of Stoffel Vandoorne, Malthe Jakobsen, and Loïc Duval qualified 18th, with the #93 of Jean-Éric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen, and Paul Di Resta just behind in 19th. They were promoted to 17th and 18th, respectively, after the post-session shake-up.
The Proton Competition #99 Porsche, piloted by Neel Jani, Nicolás Pino, and Nicolás Varrone, slotted into 20th (promoted to 19th), while the #007 Aston Martin of Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble, and Ross Gunn will start from 20th, just ahead of the disqualified #6 Porsche now at the rear.
With the stage now set, Friday morning’s Hyperpole session (7:05AM NZT) will determine the final starting order for the top 15, with all eyes on whether Lynn can convert his provisional pole into the real thing and whether Bamber, Hartley, or other dark horses can spring a surprise in the race for the front row.
Header Image: FIA WEC via X
