The Qualifying format for the 24 Hours of Le Mans has received a tweak for 2026, with the two-part Hyperpole format receiving some refinements after first being introduced 12 months ago.
The grid will be set across three stages: Qualifying, Hyperpole 1, and Hyperpole 2, with these sessions split across Wednesday (today) and Thursday.
On Wednesday, a pair of 30-minute qualifying sessions will be held. The first is for both LMP2 and LMGT3 machinery, with the second one for the 18 Hypercar runners.
The top 15 in each category will progress to Hyperpole, which will take place from 20:00 CEST on Thursday, whilst 16th onwards will have their grid positions set.
In Hyperpole, the LMP2 and LMGT3 classes will again share track time, whilst Hypercar gets the track to itself.
Hyperpole 1 will last 20 minutes, with the top-10 progressing to Hyperpole 2, whilst 11th to 15th will have their grid positions determined. Notably, two more cars per class will progress to Hyperpole 2 compared to last year.
Pole position will then be determined in Hyperpole 2, a 15-minute session.
In Hyperpole, both LMP2/LMGT3 sessions will run before the Hypercar sessions.
No driver can contest more than one of the three qualifying sessions, meaning that to score pole position, all three drivers in a crew must play their part.
In Hypercar, the decision on which driver runs when is entirely up to the teams, whilst in LMP2 and LMGT3, the lowest-graded driver must contest Wednesday’s qualifying, with the choice then opened up between the two remaining drivers for Thursday.
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