The #50 AF Corse Ferrari has taken provisional pole for the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Antonio Fuoco posted a 3:25.213 lap in the #50 Ferrari 499P to set provisional pole, while the sister #51 Ferrari, driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, trailed by only 0:00.199 in second.
Sixty-two cars were back on track at Circuit de la Sarthe Wednesday for a morning practice session, a qualifying session and a night practice session ahead of this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans centenary event.
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s two GR010 Hybrids bounced back from a lacklustre Sunday and led Free Practice 1.
The morning session was red-flagged after 90 minutes when Steven Thomas, driving the Tower Motorsports’ #13 Oreca 07, rammed into Casper Stevenson’s Aston Martin Vantage of D’Station Racing (#777). The session resumed after 30 minutes.
The #33 Corvette GTE-AM entry driven by Nicolas Varrone was backed into the wall just as Practice One was ending.
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Qualifying was marred by two early red flags, before the Ferraris took the top two places ahead of the #7 and #8 Toyotas respectively as the Hypercar brands paired off – the Penske Motorsport #5 and #75 Porsches were next, with the Cadillac Racings #2 and #3 V-Series R Cadillacs all in the hunt for Thursday’s Hyperpole.
Photos: 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans build-up.
The top eight Hypercars were separated by eight tenths of a second.
The JOTA #28 ORECA 07-Gibson entry driven by Pietro Fittipaldi took provisional pole in the LMP2 class with a lap of 3:34.751.
The #83 Richard Mille Ferrari 488 GTE EVO set the GTE-AM provisional pole class with a flyer late in the session to set a time of 3:51.877.
The #33 Corvette returned to the track with six minutes remaining in the qualifying session after lengthy repairs and clocked the third fastest time to secure a spot in qualifying Thursday.
The Garage 56 entry, the #24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 of Hendrick Motorsports continued to impress with a time of 3:47.976 in the qualifying session.
The evening’s two-hour session gave drivers time on track in night-time conditions and for teams to prepare for the race this weekend.
All cars will take to the track again on Thursday June 8 at 15:00 local time/23:00 AEST for the third free practice. Hyperpole is scheduled for 20:00 Thursday June 8 local time/0400 Friday June 9 AEST.
2023 Le Mans 24 Hour qualifying – Wednesday, June 7
- #50 Ferrari 499P | Ferrari AF Corse – Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen – 03:25.213
- #51 Ferrari 499P | Ferrari AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi – 03:25.412
- #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid | Toyota Gazoo Racing – Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Jose Maria Lopez – 03:25.485
- #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid |Toyota Gazoo Racing – Sebastien Buemi/Brendon/Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa – 3:25.749
- #5 Porsche 963 Porsche | Penske Motorsport – Dane Cameron/Michael Christensen/Frederic Makowiecki – 3:25.848
- #75 Porsche 963 Porsche | Penske Motorsport – Felipe Nasr/Mathieu Jaminet /Nick Tandy – 3:25.868
- #3 Cadillac V-Series.R | Cadillac Racing – Sébastien Bourdais/Renger Van Der Zande/Scott Dixon – 3:25.924
- #2 Cadillac V-Series.R #2 | Cadillac Racing – Earl Bamber/Alex Lynn/Richard Westbrook – 3:26.020
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