Jack Aitken’s 3m23.091‑second run locked the Jota Cadillac in first, edging BMW’s Dries Vanthoor by just five‑thousandths of a second and securing pole for the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Hypercar Qualifying – Hyperpole 1
The opening round of Hyperpole saw Earl Bamber start strong in the #38 Cad. with a 3m23.722‑second lap, followed by Mathieu Jaminet in the Genesis #19 at 3m23.965. The pace at the front had spun out the Aston Martins; Ross Gunn’s #007 trailed by 1.2 seconds, while Marco Sorensen’s #009 was 1.9 seconds behind Bamber. The BMW #20, the Ferrari #51 and the Cad. #12, despite setting the fastest opening sector, all found themselves on the brink of elimination.
In the closing minutes the field tightened. Sheldon van der Linde improved the BMW #20 into the lead by shaving half a second off the reference, but was then overtaken by Bamber’s new marker at 3m23.187. The @Genesis #17 followed with Mathys Jaubert’s 3m23.126. The Jota Cad. edge, measured at 3m23.091, was followed very closely by Alpine’s Charles Milesi in the #35 entry, who set 3m23.018 – a difference of just 0.073 seconds. The French‑Japanese Toyota partners lagged at the back, with Kamui Kobayashi (#7) and Ryo Hirakawa (#8) 1.25 and 1.56 seconds slower than Milesi. The sister Alpine #36 (Jules Gounon), the Ferrari #50 (Antonio Fuoco) and Aston Martin #007 were excluded from the Hypercar 2 cut‑off, leaving only the front‑ten to progress.
Hypercar Qualifying – Hyperpole 2
Dries Vanthoor led the second shoot‑out, becoming the first driver to dip under the 3m23‑minute mark with a 3m22.745‑second lap in the BMW #15. Robin Frijns completed a provisional BMW 1‑2 with the #20 entry, timing 3m22.564 seconds. Jack Aitken seized the pole in the Jota Cad. by finishing 3m23.091 quick, beating Vanthoor by the razor‑thin margin stated above. Will Stevens filled out the Cad. front row with 3m23.078 in the sister #12; close behind were the Alpine #35 (Antonio Felix Da Costa), the BMW #20 (Frijns), the WTR Cad. #101 (Filipe Albuquerque) and the Genesis #19 (Paul‑Loup Chartin). The remaining competitors – Toyota, Aston Martin and Ferrari – all fell well outside the 3m23 benchmark.
LMP2 – Hyperpole 2
Esteban Masson of Forestier Racing by Panis secured the LMP2 pole with a 3m33.242‑second lap, out‑scoring Job van Uitert of IDEC Sport Oreca by 0.387 seconds. Van Uitert began the session on top but faded as Masson’s final attempt secured the fastest time. Dutchman Job van Uitert was positioned third, followed by his Dutch‑French teammate, while Nick Yelloly qualified fourth in the Inter Europol #43. Alex Quinn’s CrowdStrike – APR entry took fifth. The top ten also featured Julien Andlauer and Kevin Estre at Duqueine and TDS Racing, Matthieu Vaxiviere (AF Corsè) and Reshad de Gerus (#343 InterEuropol). The United Autosports entries were eliminated, joined by the Vector Sport #26, CLX Motorsport #37 and Proton #9.
LMGT3 – Hyperpole 2
Mattia Drudi of Heart of Racing dominated the LMGT3 session, claiming a 3m52.433‑second pole for the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 after a first flyer was deleted for a track‑limits infringement. He survived the penalty by matching the required time in his second attempt. Alessio Rovera took second in the AF Corsè Ferrari 296 GT3; the two Lexus RC F GT3 entries of José Maria Lopez and Jack Hakwsworth followed. The WTR BMW M4 GT3s were fifth and sixth, while Dennis Marschall (Kessel, Ferrari) slipped to seventh. The race‑ready Proton Ford Mustang GT3 #91 (Timur Boguslaskiy) and the Proton #77 (Ben Tuck) rounded out the front tier. Former F1 driver Logan Sargeant (Proton #88) missed the 12th spot, and the Iron Lynx Mercedes AMG GT3s did not progress to the pole shoot‑out.
The qualifying sessions underscored the razor‑thin margins that define the 2026 Le Mans grid, with Jota Cad’s Aitken leading by a mere 0.005 seconds and Alpine’s Milesi hovering within a tenth of a second behind. The Alpine‑Gen Z Friaster is still ensuring the front‑row battle remains an honour to the pure craft of lap record pursuit.
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