HypercarAlpine outpaced Cadillac by 0.013s in qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours, as last year’s winner, the #83 Ferrari, failed to make the top 15 and will therefore miss out on Hyperpole. Tom Gamble’s opening effort with the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie was faster than anyone’s, as he lapped in 3m24.163s, which only Earl Bamber’s benchmark outperformed in Free Practice 1.Rivals cars swiftly closed in without matching the Briton’s time, and so 15 minutes into the half-hour session, the top seven cars were contained within three-tenths of a second – featuring the sister #009 Aston Martin (Alex Riberas), the #12 Cadillac (Louis Deletraz), the #20 BMW (Rene Rast), the #35 Alpine (Ferdinand Habsburg), the #101 Cadillac (Jordan Taylor) and the #38 Cadillac (Sebastien Bourdais).With the top 15 to be qualified for Hyperpole, Frederic Makowiecki’s #36 Alpine and the Peugeots driven by Malthe Jakobsen and Stoffel Vandoorne were at risk of not making the cut. In the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, Phil Hanson was just two tenths clear of the danger zone.The pecking order subsequently became increasingly tight, with Sebastien Buemi’s #8 Toyota and Kevin Magnussen’s #15 BMW joining the fray of the fastest nine cars within 0.3s, while improvement from Makowiecki and Vandoorne left the #83 Ferrari – which put two wheels on the grass exiting the Forest Esses – and the #19 Genesis (Daniel Juncadella) vulnerable.Gamble was eventually outpaced – significantly – by several cars, the fastest of which turned out to be Habsburg’s #35 Alpine, whose last-gasp effort – a 3m23.135s – beat Deletraz’ #12 Jota Cadillac by just 0.013s.The #101 WTR Cadillac driven by Taylor was third, two tenths down, followed by Rast’s #20 BMW, Bourdais’ #38 Jota Cadillac and Magnussen’s #15 BMW.Hanson did not make it out of the danger zone in the #83 Ferrari, with his best attempt a 3m25.495s, half a second slower than Vandoorne’s #93 Peugeot and only narrowly avoiding last place – Jakobsen’s #94 Peugeot was only 0.165s slower.The two factory Ferraris qualified for Hyperpole, albeit by less than half a second.Pin puts Duqueine on top in LMP2 #30 Duqueine Team Oreca 07 Gibson: Doriane Pin, Julien Andlauer, Richard Verschoor Doriane Pin dominated the joint 30-minute qualifying session for LMP2 and LMGT3 cars, setting the fastest time in the intermediate prototype category.The Peugeot Hypercar reserve lapped the Circuit de la Sarthe in 3m34.662s, ending up more than half a second clear in the #30 Duqueine Oreca.The battle boiled down to a straight fight between Pin and Ian Aguilera in the #37 CLX Motorsport Oreca 07, with the pair trading the top spot in the 30-minute session.Silver-rated Aguilera appeared to have secured the top spot after setting a time of 3m35.229s, but Pin broke the track record in LMP2 to snatch the top spot with 10 minutes left on the clock.Aguilera remained in second place, while Bijoy Garg propelled the #343 Inter Europol Oreca to third place towards the end of qualifying.Only four cars did not progress into Hyperpole 1. Those were the #16 Proton Competition Oreca which missed much of the opening practice, the #17 Algarve Pro entry, the #48 RD Limited and the #3 DKR Engineering.Corvette fastest in LMGT3 #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R: Peter Dempsey, Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood Peter Dempsey led the way for TF Sport in the LMGT3 class, topping the first qualifying session by just two-tenths of a second from Proton’s Eric Powell.About halfway through the session, the Irishman set a best time of 3m55.744s in the full-season #34 Corvette Z06 GT3.R entry, which put him over a second ahead of the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Dustin Blattner.While several improvements followed over the final minutes, Dempsey held on to the top spot, with Powell ending up closest in the #77 Proton Ford Mustang GT3.Gray Newell put the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in third place, while James Cottingham finished fourth in the best of the two Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 Rs. Completing the top five was Darren Leung in the #32 WRT BMW M4 GT3.Fifteen out of the 25 cars progressed into Hyperpole 1, with neither of the two Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3s making the cut. The Spa-winning #10 car qualified by Antares Ru could only manage the 17th quickest lap time, while Alexander West ended up 23rd in the sister entry.Qualifying results - Hypercar Cla Team # Drivers Car Laps Time Interval km/h 1 Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR 35 A. Felix da Costa C. Milesi F. Habsburg Alpine A424 9 3'23.135 241.482 2 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR 12 L. Deletraz W. Stevens N. Nato Cadillac V-Series.R 9 +0.013 3'23.148 0.013 241.467 3 Cadillac WTR HYPERCAR 101 R. Taylor J. Taylor F. Albuquerque Cadillac V-Series.R 9 +0.188 3'23.323 0.175 241.259 4 BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR 20 R. Frijns R. Rast S. Van Der Linde BMW M Hybrid V8 9 +0.309 3'23.444 0.121 241.115 5 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR 38 S. Bourdais E. Bamber J. Aitken Cadillac V-Series.R 9 +0.350 3'23.485 0.041 241.067 6 BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR 15 K. Magnussen R. Marciello D. Vanthoor BMW M Hybrid V8 8 +0.490 3'23.625 0.140 240.901 7 Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR 009 A. Riberas M. Sorensen R. De Angelis Aston Martin Valkyrie 8 +0.642 3'23.777 0.152 240.721 8 Toyota Racing HYPERCAR 8 S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa Toyota TR010 Hybrid 9 +0.656 3'23.791 0.014 240.705 9 Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR 007 H. Tincknell T. Gamble R. Gunn Aston Martin Valkyrie 8 +0.771 3'23.906 0.115 240.569 10 Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR 36 F. Makowiecki J. Gounon V. Martins Alpine A424 9 +0.825 3'23.960 0.054 240.505 11 Genesis Magma Racing HYPERCAR 19 M. Jaminet P. Chatin D. Juncadella Genesis GMR-001 8 +0.949 3'24.084 0.124 240.359 12 Toyota Racing HYPERCAR 7 M. Conway K. Kobayashi N. de Vries Toyota TR010 Hybrid 9 +1.179 3'24.314 0.230 240.089 13 Genesis Magma Racing HYPERCAR 17 A. Lotterer P. Derani M. Jaubert Genesis GMR-001 8 +1.289 3'24.424 0.110 239.960 14 FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR 50 A. Fuoco N. Nielsen M. Molina Ferrari 499P 8 +1.379 3'24.514 0.090 239.854 15 FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR 51 A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi Ferrari 499P 8 +1.488 3'24.623 0.109 239.726 16 PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR 93 P. di Resta S. Vandoorne N. Cassidy Peugeot 9X8 9 +1.843 3'24.978 0.355 239.311 17 AF Corse HYPERCAR 83 Y. Yifei R. Kubica P. Hanson Ferrari 499P 8 +2.360 3'25.495 0.517 238.709 18 PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR 94 L. Duval M. Jakobsen T. Pourchaire Peugeot 9X8 9 +2.525 3'25.660 0.165 238.517 Qualifying results - LMP2/LMGT3 Cla Team # Drivers Car Laps Time Interval km/h 1 DUQUEINE TEAM LMP2 30 D. Pin J. Andlauer R. Verschoor Oreca 07 - Gibson 6 3'34.662 228.515 2 CLX Motorsport LMP2 37 A. Closmenil I. Aguilera T. Jensen Oreca 07 - Gibson 8 +0.567 3'35.229 0.567 227.913 3 INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION LMP2 343 B. Garg R. de Gerus N. Müller Oreca 07 - Gibson 9 +0.585 3'35.247 0.018 227.894 4 Forestier Racing by Panis LMP2 29 L. Rousset E. Masson O. Gray Oreca 07 - Gibson 9 +1.436 3'36.098 0.851 226.997 5 VECTOR SPORT LMP2 26 R. Cullen V. Lomko P. Fittipaldi Oreca 07 - Gibson 8 +1.643 3'36.305 0.207 226.779 6 INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION LMP2 43 J. Smiechowski T. Dillmann N. Yelloly Oreca 07 - Gibson 8 +2.342 3'37.004 0.699 226.049 7 United Autosports LMP2 22 R. Lindh G. Saucy M. Jensen Oreca 07 - Gibson 8 +2.902 3'37.564 0.560 225.467 8 NIELSEN RACING LMP2 24 D. Heinemeier Hansson E. Pearson J. Doohan Oreca 07 - Gibson 8 +3.003 3'37.665 0.101 225.362 9 IDEC SPORT LMP2 28 P. Lafargue V. Rinicella J. Van Uitert Oreca 07 - Gibson 8 +3.063 3'37.725 0.060 225.300 10 Proton Competition LMP2 9 J. Ried K. Ohta H. King Oreca 07 - Gibson 9 +3.426 3'38.088 0.363 224.925 11 AO by TF LMP2 99 P. Hyett J. Allen D. Cameron Oreca 07 - Gibson 8 +4.036 3'38.698 0.610 224.298 12 Crowdstrike Racing by APR LMP2 4 G. Kurtz A. Quinn L. Heinrich Oreca 07 - Gibson 9 +4.707 3'39.369 0.671 223.612 13 AF Corse LMP2 183 F. Perrodo M. Vaxiviere B. Barnicoat Oreca 07 - Gibson 8 +5.323 3'39.985 0.616 222.986 14 TDS Racing LMP2 14 T. Lutke M. Beche K. Estre Oreca 07 - Gibson 8 +5.602 3'40.264 0.279 222.703 15 United Autosports LMP2 222 D. Schneider B. Hanley O. Jarvis Oreca 07 - Gibson 9 +6.756 3'41.418 1.154 221.542 16 Proton Competition LMP2 44 H. Felbermayr Jr. H. Felbermayr L. Fluxá Oreca 07 - Gibson 8 +6.791 3'41.453 0.035 221.507 17 Algarve Pro Racing Team LMP2 25 M. Jensen E. Trulli J. Hughes Oreca 07 - Gibson 9 +8.077 3'42.739 1.286 220.229 18 RD Limited LMP2 48 F. Poordad T. Vautier R. Dumas Oreca 07 - Gibson 9 +8.194 3'42.856 0.117 220.113 19 DKR Engineering LMP2 3 J. Farano S. Alvarez R. van der Zande Oreca 07 - Gibson 9 +8.889 3'43.551 0.695 219.429 20 Racing Team Turkey by TF LMGT3 34 P. Dempsey S. Yoluc C. Eastwood Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 8 +20.734 3'55.396 11.845 208.387 21 Proton Competition LMGT3 77 E. Powell B. Tuck S. Priaulx Ford Mustang GT3 7 +21.289 3'55.951 0.555 207.897 22 Heart of Racing Team LMGT3 23 G. Newell D. Barrichello J. Adam Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 7 +21.313 3'55.975 0.024 207.876 23 Manthey DK Engineering LMGT3 91 J. Cottingham T. Boguslavskiy A. Güven Porsche 911 GT3 R 9 +21.521 3'56.183 0.208 207.693 24 TEAM WRT LMGT3 32 D. Leung S. Gelael A. Farfus BMW M4 GT3 Evo 9 +21.875 3'56.537 0.354 207.382 25 Kessel Racing LMGT3 74 D. Blattner L. Patrese D. Marschall Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo 7 +21.898 3'56.560 0.023 207.362 26 AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3 87 R. Umbrarescu C. Schmid J. Lopez Lexus RC F GT3 8 +21.919 3'56.581 0.021 207.343 27 Heart of Racing Team LMGT3 27 I. James Z. Robichon M. Drudi Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 8 +22.026 3'56.688 0.107 207.250 28 TEAM WRT LMGT3 69 A. McIntosh P. Thompson D. Harper BMW M4 GT3 Evo 8 +22.038 3'56.700 0.012 207.239 29 Proton Competition LMGT3 88 S. Gattuso G. Levorato L. Sargeant Ford Mustang GT3 6 +22.269 3'56.931 0.231 207.037 30 IRON LYNX LMGT3 61 M. Berry R. Andrade M. Martin Mercedes AMG GT3 8 +22.288 3'56.950 0.019 207.020 31 Vista AF Corse LMGT3 21 F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo 8 +22.300 3'56.962 0.012 207.010 32 AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3 78 T. Rompuy H. David J. Hawksworth Lexus RC F GT3 7 +22.599 3'57.261 0.299 206.749 33 Vista AF Corse LMGT3 54 T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo 9 +22.615 3'57.277 0.016 206.735 34 The Bend Manthey LMGT3 92 Y. Shahin R. Pera R. Lietz Porsche 911 GT3 R 8 +22.804 3'57.466 0.189 206.571 35 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx LMGT3 62 A. Ali Al-Khelaifi J. Hanses G. Alesi Mercedes AMG GT3 8 +22.869 3'57.531 0.065 206.514 36 Garage 59 LMGT3 10 A. Au T. Fleming M. Kirchhofer McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 9 +23.000 3'57.662 0.131 206.400 37 TF Sport LMGT3 33 B. Keating J. Edgar N. Catsburg Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 8 +23.062 3'57.724 0.062 206.346 38 IRON LYNX LMGT3 79 J. Zelger M. Cressoni L. Hodenius Mercedes AMG GT3 7 +23.114 3'57.776 0.052 206.301 39 RICHARD MILLE AF CORSE LMGT3 150 C. Toledo L. Wadoux R. Agostini Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo 7 +23.329 3'57.991 0.215 206.115 40 Kessel Racing LMGT3 57 T. Kimura C. Laursen D. Serra Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo 9 +23.447 3'58.109 0.118 206.013 41 Racing Spirit of Leman LMGT3 59 C. Mateu M. Fossard V. Hasse-Clot Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 8 +23.733 3'58.395 0.286 205.766 42 Garage 59 LMGT3 58 A. West F. Gehrsitz B. Goethe McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 7 +24.690 3'59.352 0.957 204.943 43 TF Sport LMGT3 2 J. Ibrahim L. Nicolas Hanafin B. Green Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 9 +24.930 3'59.592 0.240 204.738 44 13 Autosport LMGT3 13 O. Fidani L. Kern M. Bell Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 9 +25.596 4'00.258 0.666 204.170