The 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours Hyperpole session delivered a dramatic and historic spectacle, setting the stage for the world’s most celebrated endurance race. As the sun dipped and the golden hour bathed the Circuit de la Sarthe, the very best from Hypercar, LMP2, and the new LMGT3 class fought for supremacy. The Hyperpole format, designed to showcase the outright speed of the top qualifiers from each class, did not disappoint, providing thrilling moments and a few notable surprises for an audience well-versed in motorsport’s technical and competitive nuances.
Hypercar: Cadillac’s Golden Hour: A Historic Lockout
The Hypercar Hyperpole session will be remembered for Cadillac’s extraordinary achievement. In a display of both technical prowess and driver skill, the Hertz Team JOTA Cadillacs locked out the front row for the first time in the marque’s Le Mans history. Alex Lynn, in the #12 Cadillac, delivered a sensational lap of 3:23.166, securing pole position by a slender 0.167 seconds over the sister #38 car, driven by Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais, and Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula One World Champion
Lynn’s performance, supported by team-mates Norman Nato and Will Stevens, was the culmination of a meticulously executed Hyperpole session. The Cadillacs’ dominance was not merely a matter of raw speed; it reflected a perfect blend of tyre management, traffic negotiation, and strategic timing during the session’s critical moments.
Porsche Penske Motorsport’s #5 entry, piloted by Julien Andlauer, Michael Christensen, and Mathieu Jaminet, claimed third, demonstrating Porsche’s continued competitiveness at Le Mans. BMW M Team WRT’s #15 car, with Dries Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen, and Raffaele Marciello, secured fourth, while the second Porsche (#4) completed the top five.
Ferrari, expected to mount a strong challenge after last year’s pole, found themselves relegated to seventh with the #50 AF Corse entry. Toyota’s challenge unravelled when Sébastien Buemi made a costly error at Mulsanne Corner, leaving the #8 car without a representative time and starting tenth. Alpine, Aston Martin, and Peugeot all found themselves further down the order, highlighting the fiercely competitive nature of the Hypercar field this year[1][3].
Notably, the #6 Porsche Penske was disqualified from the results, further underlining the unforgiving nature of Hyperpole, where even minor infractions can have major consequences.
LMP2: TDS Racing on Top in a Tightly Contested Field
The LMP2 Hyperpole session was a showcase of precision and consistency, with TDS Racing’s #29 Oreca, driven by Rodrigo Sales, Mathias Beche, and Clément Novalak, emerging as the class of the field. Their pole-winning performance was a masterclass in traffic management and outright pace, securing the top spot ahead of Inter Europol Competition’s #43 entry, which featured Jakub Śmiechowski, Tom Dillmann, and Nick Yelloly.
AO BY TF’s #199 car, with PJ Hyett, Dane Cameron, and Louis Delétraz, rounded out the top three, while United Autosports’ #23 and #22 cars completed the top five, reflecting the strength and depth of the LMP2 grid[1]. The session was marked by narrow margins, with the top contenders separated by mere tenths of a second—a testament to the competitiveness of the class and the quality of the teams and drivers involved.
Further down, CLX Pure Racing’s #37, AF Corse’s #183, and RLR M Sport’s #16 all made it into Hyperpole, underlining the international flavour and technical diversity of the LMP2 field. The session’s intensity and the razor-thin gaps between teams promise a fascinating battle over the full 24 hours
GT3: Heart of Racing Team Seizes LMGT3 Pole in Debut Year
The introduction of the LMGT3 class brought a fresh dynamic to Le Mans, and the inaugural Hyperpole session for the category was fiercely contested. The Heart of Racing Team’s #27 entry, driven by Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, and Mattia Drudi, emerged as the pacesetters, clinching pole position with a composed and rapid lap.
Vista AF Corse’s #21 Ferrari, with François Heriau, Simon Mann, and Alessio Rovera, secured second, while Team WRT’s #46 car, featuring Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi, and Kelvin van der Linde, delighted fans by taking third. Iron Lynx, Manthey 1st Phorm, and TF Sport also featured prominently in the top ten, showcasing the variety and depth of the new GT3 regulations.
The session was marked by close competition and strategic use of the limited Hyperpole window, as teams balanced the need for a clear lap against the ever-present traffic. The result was a tightly bunched field, setting the stage for a closely fought race in the category’s Le Mans debut.
