24 Hours of Le Mans – Free Practice 3: Ferrari takes the lead again

From the first few minutes, the pace of the Hypercars was interesting. Toyota and Cadillac posted lap times that were certainly two seconds off the best times of the FP1, but very fast for the start of the session. The #311 was leading after 20 minutes with a 3’28”721, which was two tenths better than the Japanese #7.

Cadillac #2 joined the party by achieving the best provisional time. Porsche #4 joined this beautiful group by squeezing in between these three competitors. However, Cadillac still held onto its leadership (3’28”442).

After 40 minutes of driving, the Panis Racing’s LMP2 had a little scare. The prototype went into oversteer in the last turn of the circuit and ended up crashing into the tires, leaning against the pit wall. It took some time for the car to get back on track, causing a long yellow flag.

The first slow zone of the session arrived quickly. Car number 47 from Cool Racing went straight at Indianapolis and ended up in the gravel trap. Stuck, the LMP2 could only restart thanks to the crane and the marshals’ intervention. The long break in the session did not allow the 62 cars to climb up the rankings.

Change of chassis on the Jota #12

Once the track was clear, Toyota #8 had a free lap. This allowed them to show their potential and achieve the second provisional time. The competition was very tight as nine cars were within half a second of each other.

At mid-session, the McLaren #59, which was leading the GT3 session, lost control at Tertre Rouge and crashed into the tire wall. Although the impact did not seem significant, the race direction decided to deploy the red flag. After Mulsanne, another McLaren, the #70 from Inception Racing, suffered a mechanical issue and had to come to a stop along the barriers.

Porsche number 12 did not leave the pits. The Hypercar violently went off the track last night. This caused significant damage. The team took advantage of this third free practice session to repair it and change the chassis.

Car #65 from Panis Racing drew attention to herself again a big half-hour before the end of the session. In the Indianapolis turn, she went straight and tanked in the gravel trap. This incident required a slow zone in this part of the track.

The timer goes crazy at the end

At the end of the session, Porsche stepped on the gas. The #6 driven by Laurens Vanthoor set the fastest time, relegating the competition to eight tenths (3’27”391). The Toyota #7 driven by José Maria Lopez got closer to the German car, but remained behind by four tenths (3’27”803).

In a final attempt, Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari #50) has convinced everyone (3’27”283). The Italian achieved the best time of the session. Note that the top four cars are separated by two tenths.

Author of several incidents, the Panis Racing was the fastest in LMP2 (3’37”217). In the GT3 category, the United Autosport #59, although stuck in the garage, maintained its leadership.