Kevin Estre single-handedly carries Porsche to the hyperpole
There will be only two Porsches in the hyperpole for this 92nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A surprising performance given the pace of the German cars since the start of the season. Kevin Estre is the only one to have achieved this result fairly.
Where are the Porsches? Yet so fast since the beginning of the season, the German machines completely missed the exercise of the fast lap during the qualifying session of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Out of the six cars entered in the Hypercar category, only number 6 with Kevin Estre at the wheel managed to secure its place in the hyperpole session. Car number 12 benefited from the disqualification of Toyota #7 to move up into the top eight. A truly surprising result. Indeed, according to several specialists, including WRT team manager Vincent Vosse, Porsche should have dominated this session.
By looking at the results of the other meetings of the season, the German manufacturer always placed at least two cars in the top 8: three in Qatar (four in the top ten), two in Imola (four in the top ten) and three in Spa (four in the top ten). And in the first free practice session in Le Mans, car number 12 had set the second fastest time and car number 99, the fourth.
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Kevin Estre will thus be the only man on board an official car to defend his team’s chances with the seven other fastest from qualifying: BMW #15, Cadillac #3, Ferrari #50, Alpine #35, Cadillac #2, Ferrari #51 and Porsche #12.
The biggest surprise of this session comes from BMW. Earlier in the day, Vincent Vosse expressed optimism about the chances of his Hypercars in qualifying. He was right as car number 15 set the best time. A unprecedented performance this season as it is the first time the Munich-based manufacturer finishes on top of such a session. But will they have the same pace this Thursday evening for the hyperpole?
