Toyota’s #7 TR010 topped the second practice session of Le Mans week under the cover of darkness with a 3:26.096 set right at the death by Kamui Kobayashi.
After a hugely disappointing run in Qualifying, the #83 AF Corse 499P was fast and looked set to top the timesheets but ended up second. Yifei Ye set a 3:26.316 in the 2025 overall-winning Hypercar, which will start this year’s race 17th after failing to make it into Hyperpole earlier today.
It was a productive night session for the team, which spent the majority of the 120-minute run gathering data on an old set of Medium Michelin tyres, before switching to a used set of Hards for the closing laps.
It was tight up top in Hypercar, with the top five separated by under four tenths. Completing the top three in the overall rankings was the #101 WTR Cadillac.
The #36 Alpine was fourth, marginally quicker than the #12 JOTA Cadillac that ended up P5 with a lap time set before Louis Deletraz suffered a puncture in the final half hour, forcing the Swiss to limp back to the pits to avoid damaging the car’s bodywork. Genesis’ #19 GMR-001 ran well in its first competitive night session in the WEC, finishing the day sixth.
The #12 Cadillac was one of several cars that ran into trouble during the session. Elsewhere in Hypercar, the #15 WRT BMW ended up beached in the gravel at the Esses, and the #7 briefly faced the wrong way at the top of the hill with the Goodyear bridge.
In the LMP2 classes, the #44 Proton Competition LMP2 Pro/Am ORECA hit the barriers at Arnage, the #30 Duqueine ORECA lost time stranded in a gravel bed, and the #22 Racing Against Diabetes United Autosports 07 Gibson suffered an off after just seven laps with Mikkel Jensen aboard. The car was spotted by cameras being wheeled back into the pit lane under covers. The team managed to repair the car and get it back out before the end of the session, though.
At the top of the leaderboard in the class, the #29 Forestier Racing by Panis ORECA led the way with a 3:33.645 from Esteban Masson, who toured the circuit over a second quicker than the LMP2 Pro/Am-topping Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA, which slotted in second in the combined P2 rankings. Matthieu Vaxiviere rose to third with a late flyer in AF Corse’s #183 machine.
LMGT3 saw six marques feature in the top six places. Team WRT rose to the top with a 3:55.132 from Augusto Farfus in the #32 M4 LMGT3 Evo. The #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG was three tenths off in second. The Bend Manthey Porsche nabbed P3.
Track action continues tomorrow with Free Practice 3 at 14:45 local time.
