Porsche’s Kevin Estre Snatches Pole From Cadillac in Le Mans 24 Hours Hyperpole Qualifier

In a spectacular Hyperpole session that went down to the wire on Thursday, Porsche’s Penske team secured pole position for the Le Mans 24 Hours, edging out Cadillac in an intense all-LMDh battle. Kevin Estre, driving the #6 Porsche Penske 963, clocked a remarkable 3m24.634s lap in the final moments, earning Porsche its first Le Mans pole since 2016.

Estre’s heroics came after a dramatic session filled with strategic plays and a red flag incident. Sebastien Bourdais initially held the provisional pole with a 3m24.816s lap in the #3 Cadillac but chose not to run again after a crash involving BMW’s Dries Vanthoor caused a session stoppage. This decision opened the door for Estre, who outpaced Alex Lynn’s #2 Cadillac by 0.148s after the chequered flag.

Despite Cadillac’s strong showing, a grid penalty from the previous WEC round at Spa demoted the #2 car, placing the #6 Porsche alongside the #3 Cadillac on the front row. The second row will feature the two factory Ferrari 499P’s, followed by the #35 Alpine.

This year’s Le Mans promises to be a gripping 24-hour race, with Porsche, Cadillac, and Ferrari all vying for victory in a highly competitive field.

Starting Grid:

Hypercar Class:

1. #6 Porsche Penske 963 -Kevin Estre
2. #3 Cadillac V-Series.R – Sebastien Bourdais
3. #2 Cadillac V-Series.R – Alex Lynn
4. #51 Ferrari 499P – Alessandro Pier Guidi
5. #50 Ferrari 499P – Antonio Fuoco
6. #35 Alpine A424 – Paul-Loup Chatin
7. #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 – Dries Vanthoor

LMP2 Class:

1. #14 AO by TF ORECA-GIBSON 07 -Louis Deletraz
2. #28 IDEC Sport ORECA – Job van Uitert
3. #65 Panis Racing Oreca – Mathias Beche
4. #48 IDEC Sport Oreca -Paul Lafargue
5. #22 United Autosports USA – Phil Hanson

GT3 Class:

1. #70 McLaren 720S GT3 – Brendon Iribe
2. #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R – Aliaksandr Malykhin
3. #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3 – Giacomo Petrobelli
4. #83 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 – Robert Kubica
5. #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 – Henry Walkenhorst