Practice report

Le Mans 24 Hours: Kubica tops warm-up, Toyota's De Vries crashes

Robert Kubica’s Ferrari topped the warm-up session ahead of the Le Mans 24 Hours, in which Toyota’s Nyck de Vries incurred damage clashing with Kelvin van der Linde’s slowing Lexus.

As most teams elected to give drivers pitstop practice in live conditions, only 12 of the 23 Hypercar entries set a time during the short 15-minute session that precedes the World Endurance Championship’s blue-riband event, with Kubica heading a Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar 1-2 in his customer #83 AF Corse example.

His 3m29.260s lap time proved 0.409s quicker than Antonio Giovinazzi, the defending Le Mans winner’s #51 factory entry losing time in the final sector after setting two purple sectors earlier in the lap.

De Vries had by this time returned to the pits with nose damage on his #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID, which will start from the back of the Hypercar grid after Kamui Kobayashi’s spin in qualifying brought out red flags.

The Dutchman was caught out as he closed on van der Linde’s ASP-run Lexus RC F GT3 on the exit of the Porsche Curves, and was unable to avoid making contact with the DTM points leader before spinning.

The stewards deemed that van der Linde was predominantly at fault for the collision, as the South African's car had slowed while still on the racing line.

He was given a suspended stop-and-go penalty, while the team faces a race against time to repair the damage in time for the race.

Another incident occurred at the first Mulsanne Chicane when Naveen Rao's Algarve Pro Racing ORECA-Gibson 07 LMP2 car clattered into the side of Sebastien Bourdais in the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series. R LMDh, although both cars continued.

#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman, Yifei Ye

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

Charles Milesi improved to clock the third-fastest time in the #35 Alpine A424 LMDh, 1.843s behind Kubica, while Laurens Vanthoor in the polesitting #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 LMDh moved into fourth.

That demoted Will Stevens to fifth in the rebuilt #12 Jota Porsche 963 LMDh, getting its first laps on-track since Callum Ilott’s crash during night practice on Wednesday, following a successful shakedown on the Le Mans air strip last night.

Le Mans 24 Hours 2024: Warm-up results

1 - 2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	R. Kubica R. Shwartzman Y. Yifei	Ferrari 499P	4	3'29.260		234.414
2	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	5	+0.409 3'29.669	0.409	233.957
3	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	P. Chatin F. Habsburg C. Milesi	Alpine A424	3	+1.843 3'31.103	1.434	232.368
4	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	6	K. Estre A. Lotterer L. Vanthoor	Porsche 963	4	+2.911 3'32.171	1.068	231.198
5	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	12	W. Stevens N. Nato C. Ilott	Porsche 963	4	+3.124 3'32.384	0.213	230.966
6	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	5	M. Campbell M. Christensen F. Makowiecki	Porsche 963	4	+3.466 3'32.726	0.342	230.595
7	Whelen Cadillac Racing HYPERCAR	311	P. Derani J. Aitken F. Drugovich	Cadillac V-Series.R	4	+3.517 3'32.777	0.051	230.539
8	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	36	N. Lapierre M. Schumacher M. Vaxiviere	Alpine A424	3	+3.590 3'32.850	0.073	230.460
9	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	3	+4.436 3'33.696	0.846	229.548
10	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	4	M. Jaminet F. Nasr N. Tandy	Porsche 963	4	+5.769 3'35.029	1.333	228.125
11	AF Corse LMP2	183	F. Perrodo B. Barnicoat N. Varrone	Oreca 07	4	+7.624 3'36.884	1.855	226.174
12	PANIS RACING LMP2	65	R. Sales M. Beche S. Huffaker	Oreca 07	4	+8.275 3'37.535	0.651	225.497
13	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	94	S. Vandoorne P. di Resta L. Duval	Peugeot 9X8 2024	4	+8.768 3'38.028	0.493	224.987
14	Isotta Fraschini HYPERCAR	11	C. Bennett J. Vernay A. Serravalle	Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 Competizione LMH	4	+9.367 3'38.627	0.599	224.371
15	IDEC SPORT LMP2	28	P. Lafargue J. Van Uitert R. de Gerus	Oreca 07	4	+9.587 3'38.847	0.220	224.145
16	Proton Competition LMP2	9	J. Ried M. Capietto B. Viscaal	Oreca 07	4	+11.765 3'41.025	2.178	221.936
17	VECTOR SPORT LMP2	10	R. Cullen P. Pilet S. Richelmi	Oreca 07	3	+13.264 3'42.524	1.499	220.441
18	INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION LMP2	34	J. Smiechowski V. Lomko C. Novalak	Oreca 07	4	+15.787 3'45.047	2.523	217.970
19	Cool Racing LMP2	47	N. Rao M. Bell F. Vesti	Oreca 07	4	+16.547 3'45.807	0.760	217.236
20	GR RACING LMGT3	86	M. Wainwright D. Serra R. Pera	Ferrari 296 GT3	4	+28.938 3'58.198	12.391	205.936
21	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	G. Roda M. Pedersen D. Olsen	Ford Mustang GT3	4	+29.142 3'58.402	0.204	205.760
22	INCEPTION RACING LMGT3	70	B. Iribe O. Millroy F. Schandorff	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	4	+29.400 3'58.660	0.258	205.537
23	Manthey EMA LMGT3	91	Y. Shahin M. Schuring R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	4	+29.659 3'58.919	0.259	205.314
24	Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3	92	A. Malykhin J. Sturm K. Bachler	Porsche 911 GT3 R	4	+30.146 3'59.406	0.487	204.897
25	Proton Competition LMGT3	77	R. Hardwick Z. Robichon B. Barker	Ford Mustang GT3	4	+30.464 3'59.724	0.318	204.625
26	Proton Competition LMGT3	44	J. Hartshorne B. Tuck C. Mies	Ford Mustang GT3	4	+30.665 3'59.925	0.201	204.453
27	TEAM WRT LMGT3	46	A. Al Harthy V. Rossi M. Martin	BMW M4 GT3	4	+30.835 4'00.095	0.170	204.309
28	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	55	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	4	+33.141 4'02.401	2.306	202.365
29	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	4	+36.483 4'05.743	3.342	199.613
30	Spirit of Race LMGT3	155	J. Laursen C. Laursen J. Taylor	Ferrari 296 GT3	4	+36.964 4'06.224	0.481	199.223
31	CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR	2	E. Bamber A. Lynn A. Palou	Cadillac V-Series.R	3
32	CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR	3	S. Bourdais R. van der Zande S. Dixon	Cadillac V-Series.R	3
33	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	7	J. Lopez K. Kobayashi N. de Vries	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	1
34	AO by TF LMP2	14	P. Hyett L. Deletraz A. Quinn	Oreca 07	3
35	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	15	D. Vanthoor R. Marciello M. Wittmann	BMW M Hybrid V8	4
36	Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR	19	R. Grosjean A. Caldarelli M. Cairoli	Lamborghini SC63	3
37	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	S. Van Der Linde R. Frijns R. Rast	BMW M Hybrid V8	4
38	United Autosports LMP2	22	O. Jarvis B. Garg N. Siegel	Oreca 07	3
39	UNITED AUTOSPORTS USA LMP2	23	B. Keating F. Albuquerque B. Hanley	Oreca 07	3
40	NIELSEN RACING LMP2	24	F. Scherer D. Heinemeier Hansson K. Simpson	Oreca 07	3
41	Algarve Pro Racing Team LMP2	25	M. Kaiser O. Caldwell R. De Angelis	Oreca 07	3
42	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James D. Mancinelli A. Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	2
43	DUQUEINE TEAM LMP2	30	J. Falb J. Allen J. Simmenauer	Oreca 07	3
44	TEAM WRT LMGT3	31	D. Leung S. Gelael A. Farfus	BMW M4 GT3	2
45	DKR Engineering LMP2	33	A. Mattschull R. Binder L. Hörr	Oreca 07	3
46	Cool Racing LMP2	37	L. Fluxá M. Jakobsen R. Miyata	Oreca 07	3
47	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	38	O. Rasmussen P. Hanson J. Button	Porsche 963	4
48	Crowdstrike Racing by APR LMP2	45	G. Kurtz C. Braun N. Catsburg	Oreca 07	3
49	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	50	A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	4
50	United Autosports LMGT3	59	J. Cottingham N. Costa G. Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	3
51	IRON LYNX LMGT3	60	C. Schiavoni M. Cressoni F. Perera	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	3
52	Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR	63	M. Bortolotti D. Kvyat E. Mortara	Lamborghini SC63	3
53	JMW Motorsport LMGT3	66	G. Petrobelli L. ten Voorde S. Yoluc	Ferrari 296 GT3	2
54	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	78	A. Robin T. Boguslavskiy K. van der Linde	Lexus RC F GT3	1
55	TF Sport LMGT3	81	T. Van Rompuy R. Andrade C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	2
56	TF Sport LMGT3	82	H. Koizumi S. Baud D. Juncadella	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	2
57	IRON DAMES LMGT3	85	S. Bovy M. Gatting R. Frey	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	3
58	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	87	T. Kimura E. Masson J. Hawksworth	Lexus RC F GT3	3
59	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	J. Vergne M. Jensen N. Müller	Peugeot 9X8 2024	3
60	United Autosports LMGT3	95	H. Hamaguchi N. Pino M. Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	2
61	Proton Competition HYPERCAR	99	N. Jani H. Tincknell J. Andlauer	Porsche 963	3
62	D'Station Racing LMGT3	777	S. Hoshino E. Bastard M. Sorensen	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	3
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