Le Mans 24 Hours: Porsche heads second practice from Ferrari
Porsche pipped Ferrari in second free practice for the Le Mans 24 Hours to end the Italian manufacturer’s stranglehold on the top spot in the times.
Laurens Vanthoor went quickest with just over 30 minutes of the two-hour night session remaining on Wednesday aboard his Porsche 963 LMDh to beat Ferrari driver James Calado’s mark by three tenths.
Vanthoor posted a 3m29.157s to go quickest aboard the only one of the three Porsche Penske Motorsport entries not to make it through to the Hypercar qualifying session for the double-points round of the World Endurance Championship.
That put him just seven hundredths up on Calado before he made a further improvement to get down to 3m28.878s.
Calado had been quickest with a 3m29.225s set at the start of the session.
Porsche backed up its upturn in form in the WEC by taking third position courtesy of a 3m29.307s from Dane Cameron.
Cadillac took fourth position, Earl Bamber posting a 3m29.545s to end up seven tenths off the pace aboard the Ganassi team’s full-season WEC entry with the V-Series.R LMDh.
Kamui Kobayashi jumped to fifth place in the best of the Toyota GR010 HYBRIDs right at the end of the session with a 3m29.624s.
#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
The Jota Porsche customer team managed a series of quick times after failing to complete a flying lap in first qualifying.
Will Stevens made a late improvement on Antonio Felix da Costa’s previous best with a 3m29.784s to propel the car from eighth to sixth.
The Action Express Racing Cadillac team ended up seventh fastest after failing to make it through to Hyperpole, Jack Aitken getting down to a 3m29.846s.
Ferrari’s second 499P was eighth courtesy of a 3m30.086s from Nicklas Nielsen.
The top 10 in the Hypercar class was rounded out by Olivier Pla in the best of the Glickenhaus-Pipo 007 LMHs and Renger van der Zande in the second Ganassi-run Cadillac Racing entry.
Mirko Bortolotti jumped to the top of the order in LMP2 with just minutes left on the clock in his Prema ORECA-Gibson 07.
He posted a 3m36.863s, two tenths up on United Autosports driver Filipe Albuquerque, another late improver with a 3m37.079s.
Albuquerque beat Jota ORECA driver Pietro Fittipaldi, who had been fastest in class for much of the session, into third place.
Kessel Ferrari driver Kei Cozzolino jumped to the top of the order in GTE Am as the chequered flag was shown on the stroke of midnight.
His 3m53.796s aboard the CarGuy-backed Ferrari 488 GTE Evo beat Iron Lynx Porsche driver Alessio Picariello into second by three tenths.
The WEC cars will return to the track for three hours of free practice at 15:00 local time on Thursday, with the half-hour Hyperpole session starting at 20:00.
Le Mans 24 Hours second practice results
| Cla | # | Drivers | Car | Class | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 |  Kevin Estre  Andre Lotterer  Laurens Vanthoor |
Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 3'28.878 | |
| 2 | 51 |  James Calado  Antonio Giovinazzi Alessandro Pier Guidi |
Ferrari 499P | Hypercar | 3'29.225 | 0.347 |
| 3 | 5 |  Dane Cameron  Michael Christensen Frédéric Makowiecki |
Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 3'29.307 | 0.429 |
| 4 | 2 |  Earl Bamber Alex Lynn Richard Westbrook |
Cadillac V-Series.R | Hypercar | 3'29.545 | 0.667 |
| 5 | 7 | Mike Conway  Kamui Kobayashi  Jose Maria Lopez |
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid | Hypercar | 3'29.624 | 0.746 |
| 6 | 38 |  Antonio Felix da Costa Will Stevens  Ye Yifei |
Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 3'29.784 | 0.906 |
| 7 | 311 | Jack Aitken  Pipo Derani Alexander Sims |
Cadillac V-Series.R | Hypercar | 3'29.846 | 0.968 |
| 8 | 50 | Antonio Fuoco  Miguel Molina Nicklas Nielsen |
Ferrari 499P | Hypercar | 3'30.086 | 1.208 |
| 9 | 708 |  Ryan Briscoe Romain Dumas Olivier Pla |
Glickenhaus 007 LMH | Hypercar | 3'30.172 | 1.294 |
| 10 | 3 | Sébastien Bourdais Scott Dixon  Renger van der Zande |
Cadillac V-Series.R | Hypercar | 3'30.238 | 1.360 |
| 11 | 8 |  Sébastien Buemi Brendon Hartley Ryo Hirakawa |
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid | Hypercar | 3'30.500 | 1.622 |
| 12 | 75 | Mathieu Jaminet Felipe Nasr Nick Tandy |
Porsche 963 | Hypercar | 3'30.740 | 1.862 |
| 13 | 94 | Loic Duval Gustavo Menezes Nico Müller |
Peugeot 9X8 | Hypercar | 3'30.800 | 1.922 |
| 14 | 93 | Paul di Resta Mikkel Jensen Jean-Eric Vergne |
Peugeot 9X8 | Hypercar | 3'30.823 | 1.945 |
| 15 | 709 | Nathanael Berthon  Esteban Gutierrez Franck Mailleux |
Glickenhaus 007 LMH | Hypercar | 3'31.196 | 2.318 |
| 16 | 4 | Tom Dillmann Esteban Guerrieri Tristan Vautier |
Vanwall Vandervell 680 | Hypercar | 3'35.147 | 6.269 |
| 17 | 63 | Mirko Bortolotti  Daniil Kvyat Doriane Pin |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'36.863 | 7.985 |
| 18 | 22 | Filipe Albuquerque Philip Hanson Frederick Lubin |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'37.079 | 8.201 |
| 19 | 28 | Pietro Fittipaldi David Heinemeier Hansson Oliver Rasmussen |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'37.855 | 8.977 |
| 20 | 23 | Tom Blomqvist Oliver Jarvis Josh Pierson |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'38.153 | 9.275 |
| 21 | 43 | Maxime Martin Tom Van Rompuy Ugo de Wilde |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'38.275 | 9.397 |
| 22 | 14 | Mathias Beche Ben Hanley Rodrigo Sales |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'38.330 | 9.452 |
| 23 | 34 | Albert Costa Fabio Scherer  Jakub Smiechowski |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'38.399 | 9.521 |
| 24 | 9 | Juan Manuel Correa  Filip Ugran Bent Viscaal |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'38.890 | 10.012 |
| 25 | 923 | Tom Gamble Dries Vanthoor  Salih Yoluc |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'39.036 | 10.158 |
| 26 | 36 | Julien Canal Charles Milesi Matthieu Vaxiviere |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'39.450 | 10.572 |
| 27 | 37 | Alexandre Coigny Malthe Jakobsen Nicolas Lapierre |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'39.507 | 10.629 |
| 28 | 65 | Tijmen van der Helm  Manuel Maldonado Job Van Uitert |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'39.797 | 10.919 |
| 29 | 31 | Robin Frijns  Sean Gelael  Ferdinand Habsburg |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'39.818 | 10.940 |
| 30 | 45 | James Allen Colin Braun George Kurtz |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'40.185 | 11.307 |
| 31 | 47 | Reshad de Gerus Vlad Lomko Simon Pagenaud |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'40.221 | 11.343 |
| 32 | 30 | Rene Binder Neel Jani  Nicolas Pino |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'40.272 | 11.394 |
| 33 | 39 | Giedo van der Garde Roberto Lacorte Patrick Pilet |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'40.361 | 11.483 |
| 34 | 35 | Olli Caldwell Andre Negrao Memo Rojas |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'41.018 | 12.140 |
| 35 | 41 | Rui Andrade Louis Deletraz Robert Kubica |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'41.074 | 12.196 |
| 36 | 48 | Paul-Loup Chatin Laurents Hörr Paul Lafargue |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'41.301 | 12.423 |
| 37 | 10 | Gabriel Aubry  Ryan Cullen  Matthias Kaiser |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'41.678 | 12.800 |
| 38 | 32 | Anders Fjordbach Mark Kvamme Jan Magnussen |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'42.133 | 13.255 |
| 39 | 80 | Ben Barnicoat Norman Nato François Perrodo |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'43.191 | 14.313 |
| 40 | 24 | Jenson Button Jimmie Johnson Mike Rockenfeller |
Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 | INNOVATIVE CAR | 3'51.904 | 23.026 |
| 41 | 74 | Kei Cozzolino Yorikatsu Tsujiko Naoki Yokomizo |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'53.796 | 24.918 |
| 42 | 60 | Matteo Cressoni Alessio Picariello Claudio Schiavoni |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'54.080 | 25.202 |
| 43 | 56 | Matteo Cairoli PJ Hyett Gunnar Jeannette |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'54.172 | 25.294 |
| 44 | 54 | Francesco Castellacci Thomas Flohr Davide Rigon |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'54.585 | 25.707 |
| 45 | 77 | Julien Andlauer Christian Ried Mikkel Pedersen |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'54.639 | 25.761 |
| 46 | 85 | Sarah Bovy Rahel Frey Michelle Gatting |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'54.753 | 25.875 |
| 47 | 33 | Nick Catsburg Ben Keating Nicolás Varrone |
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R | LMGTE AM | 3'54.764 | 25.886 |
| 48 | 57 | Scott Huffaker Takeshi Kimura Daniel Serra |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'54.792 | 25.914 |
| 49 | 83 | Luis Perez Companc Alessio Rovera Lilou Wadoux |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'54.896 | 26.018 |
| 50 | 88 | Jonas Ried Harry Tincknell Don Yount |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'55.075 | 26.197 |
| 51 | 911 | Michael Fassbender Richard Lietz  Martin Rump |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'55.191 | 26.313 |
| 52 | 100 | Andrew Haryanto Chandler Hull Jeff Segal |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'55.241 | 26.363 |
| 53 | 98 | Ian James Daniel Mancinelli Alex Riberas |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 3'55.831 | 26.953 |
| 54 | 25 | Ahmad Al Harthy Michael Dinan Charles Eastwood |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 3'56.219 | 27.341 |
| 55 | 86 | Benjamin Barker Riccardo Pera Michael Wainwright |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'56.371 | 27.493 |
| 56 | 21 | Simon Mann Ulysse De Pauw Julien Piguet |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'56.616 | 27.738 |
| 57 | 72 | Valentin Hasse-Clot Arnold Robin Maxime Robin |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 3'56.753 | 27.875 |
| 58 | 55 | Gustav Birch Jens Reno Moller Marco Sorensen |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 3'57.220 | 28.342 |
| 59 | 16 | Ryan Hardwick Jan Heylen  Zacharie Robichon |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 3'57.803 | 28.925 |
| 60 | 66 | Thomas Neubauer Giacomo Petrobelli Louis Prette |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'58.307 | 29.429 |
| 61 | 13 | René Rast Ricky Taylor Thomas Steven |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | ||
| 62 | 777 | Tomonobu Fujii Satoshi Hoshino Casper Stevenson |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | ||
| View full results | ||||||
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