In the final hour of night practice for the 93rd Le Mans 24 Hours, Ferrari finished 1-2 on the leaderboard to shake off a lacklustre effort in Hyperpole.
Robert Kubica set the pace in the yellow #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P with a 3:26.523, followed by the factory-run red #50 Ferrari 499P.
Cadillacs took up three of the next four spots in the running order with the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R in third, the #38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac in fourth, and the #12 JOTA Cadillac, the pole-sitting car for Sunday, in sixth behind the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963.
The #48 VDS Panis Racing ORECA 07-Gibson led LMP2; Toyota-backed young driver Esteban Masson set a 3:38.302 to lead the class, followed by the #29 TDS Racing ORECA and the #183 AF Corse ORECA.
And in LMGT3, Jose Maria Lopez put the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3 in first place with a 3:55.057 – leading the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin and the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari.
Brenton Grove had only completed one lap in his #63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 when the car came to a halt at the exit of the first Mulsanne Chicane. On its own, it wasn’t what the Grove family-fronted entry needed, after changing chassis following Stephen’s big Free Practice 1 crash.
And with the lack of sufficient night-time running last night and tonight, it puts the crew of the #63 Mercedes-AMG in a very difficult position just to be able to race on Saturday and Sunday.
There was drama later on for the #23 United Autosports ORECA – with 15 minutes to go, Daniel Schneider suffered a right-front puncture and stopped along the Mulsanne Straight to bring out a Full Course Yellow.
In the interim, the #15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 limped back to the garage after just one lap with a reported cooling system issue.
Towards the end, Zacharie Robichon reported a potential drivetrain issue for the LMGT3 pole-sitting #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3, but the car returned to the track in time for the chequered flag.
Feature image © DPPI
