ANS Motorsport’s #9 Ligier JS P325 will start from pole position in Round 2 of the 2026 Le Mans Cup season later today at Paul Ricard. Louis Iglesias starred in the LMP3 class to put the French team on top with two quick-fire flying laps in the closing minutes of the session.
It put him and his teammate, Max Dodds, just under half a second clear of the field, after a number of drivers traded fast times in the battle for pole.
“The car is really strong, now we have to convert the speed into the race. We are a bit in front this weekend, so we have to do it,” Iglesias said.
Arthur Rogeon, Colin Queen and Jules Caranta all improved on their quickest times at the death, but none of them could dethrone Iglesias. Rogeon will start second in the #12 Brutal Fish by Campos Ligier with a 1:58.997, ahead of Queen’s 23Events Racing Ligier (1:59.007) and Caranta’s #4 Nielsen Racing Duqueine (1:59.056), the fastest D09 in the field.
Forestier Racing by VPS’s #92 Ligier, driven by Sebastian Bach in Qualifying, will start from fifth.
Alex Bukhantsov controlled the LMP3 Pro/Am session, running fastest and securing class pole with a 2:01.147 late on in the #34 Inter Europol Ligier.
“He’s doing a great job, the team is doing a great job. Really happy about it. We started on pole last time and had a mechanical issue in the race. Hopefully, this time we have a clean race, nothing breaks, and we end up on the podium,” Bukhantsov’s teammate Shawn Rashid said.
The two Rinaldi Racing Ligiers ended up second and third with strong performances from Stefan Aust in the #71 and Jacek Zielonka in the #62.
James Sweetnman impressed for GG Classics in fourth, while Eric De Doncker put the Motorsport98 JS P325 fifth.
Meanwhile, Code Racing Development’s #11 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo will start from the front in GT3 for the second time in as many races to kick off the season. Sebastian Moreno delivered a 2:04.744 on his final lap to take pole by over seven tenths, as the only driver to dip into the 2:04s.
Alessandro Cozzi, who will look to put his messy start to the season in Spain behind him, ensured the #51 AF Corse Ferrari will start alongside the #11 Vantage on the front row with a 2:05.482.
The second row will be occupied by the #77 SMC Motorsport McLaren and #17 Kessel Racing Ferrari after the efforts of Gonzalo De Andres Martin and Lorenzo Ferdinando Innocenti, respectively. The #54 Dinamic GT Porsche that finished second in Round 1, completed the top five.
The two-hour Le Mans Cup race at Paul Ricard is set to get underway at 18:20 local time later today. You can stream it live, for free, on FIAWEC+.
Image courtesy of JJ Media
