With final grid positions now established, the final practice session for 2022’s 24 Hours of Le Mans would see teams doing their last work on set up, smaller changes, comfort and fine tuning the order of service, with drivers’ night laps also a priority where required. Longer, multiple stints are also consistent with the last night session in simulation of race conditions.
Jose Maria Lopez was strapped into the now pole-sitting #7 Toyota GR010 having had the least of the seat time throughout its running today, an immediate 3:28.322 topping the timing screen. Team mate Sebastien Buemi followed into the fading light half a second away but getting into a rhythm and posting purple sector times, followed by Ryo Hirakawa doing the same, suggesting something extra might have been found in the car’s setup. Drivers keen to trim any time possible, best personal sectors peppered the timing screen. Richard Westbrook and Romain Dumas both improved their times for Glickenhaus, gathering the Hypercar entry at the top of the times where they should be.
Drivers were still pushing however, Alex Lynn getting warnings for track limits in the #23 United Autosports Oreca leading the LMP2 order in this session, a 3:32.226 sixth overall and less than a second away from the #708 Glickenhaus at the tail end of Hypercar. LMP2 cars mixing it in the top five during the race was not beyond imagination.
LMP2 particularly attracted incidents as drivers found their night bearings: Louis Deletraz for Prema Orlen carried straight on at Arnage, the #39 Graff Racing car ran off to find the gravel trap and a tyre wall at Mulsanne Corner, while Alex Cougnaud was collected by Antonio Felix Da Costa’s #38 Jota at the Ford Chicane, the DKR Engineering driver caught out by an ambitious move by Da Costa, putting the #3 car side-on into the tyres. Cougnaud was able to cross the track and make the pit entry, hoping the stewards would turn a blind eye in the circumstances.
The second string #28 Jota car made progress in the hands of Jonathan Aberdein to sit third behind the#65 Panis Racing Oreca. Last year’s podium sitters in close contention again, three tenths covering the top three. There was also a notable recovery by the Vector Sport Oreca, the car fixed up and running 12th overall.
In the GTE-Pro class, Corvette was still trading lap times with Porsche, cycling drivers and ticking whatever final boxes needed to be ticked. The #63 car led the class, best session time 3:52.710 set by Antonio Garcia earlier in the session, Nicky Catsburg doing the majority of the fettling.
The word was that AF Corse and Ferrari were uncomfortable with the BOP handed to them. Certainly, the pace over this week’s sessions would indicate a disadvantage, the red cars rarely if ever topping the GTE-Pro scores, but Ferrari has won Le Mans before from an apparent position of disadvantage.
GTE-Am was a Porsche lock-out until the last ten minutes, the #77 and #88 Dempsey Proton Racing entries maintaining 1 and 2, Harry Tincknell’s 3:55.067 the GTE-Am session best. The #61 pole sitting AF Corse Ferrari ground to a halt on the start/finish straight, Louis Prette needing a tow to recover the car to its pit, but still ending the session third in class. AF Corse’s #54 entry was fourth to maintain the Ferrari presence.
Aston Martin was noticeable by its absence, D’Station and TF Sport not showing at all, Paul Dalla Lana setting a handful of slow laps for Northwest AMR.
