24h Le Mans
Competitors in this year's support races hit the track for their first free practices on Wednesday, with all eyes on Valentino Rossi in Road to Le Mans, and more than 60 cars in the Porsche Carrera Cup and Ferrari Challenge!
The 2023 Road to Le Mans is welcoming nine-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi. Nicknamed "The Doctor," he will represent BMW in the GT3 class within the WRT team alongside Jérôme Policand. His M4 GT3 sports his famous number 46.
The field includes other big names, perhaps less famous but well-known to the 24 Hours, like Français Emmanuel Collard (24 participations), Ralf Kelleners (9, including a class win) and Guy Smith (7, including a win in 2003 with Bentley). Others, such as Jan Magnussen, Paul Lafargue and Arnold Robin are also competing in the 24 Hours this year. What a way to get more track time at the circuit!
Today's two free practices enjoyed perfect weather. The second, held at sunset, highlighted gaps in lighting, namely on the #64 Porsche 911 GT3. The #10 Vantage GT3 dominated the morning session in the GT3 class, and Winward Racing's #57 Mercedes AMG reigned in the evening. In LMP3, Team Virage's #58 Ligier JS P320-Nissan proved faster than COOL Racing's #97 Ligier JS P320-Nissan and Team Thor's #77 Ligier JS P320-Nissan.
Road to Le Mans competitors return to the track tomorrow, Thursday 8 June, to get down to the serious business of qualifying between 12:55 and 13:50. The start of Race 1 will be given at 18:30!
This support race brings together competitors from the Ferrari Challenge Europe and Ferrari Challenge North America. These championships are reserved for amateur drivers at the wheel of Ferrari 488 Challenge Evos. The Italian marque is in the spotlight due to its participation in the head class at the 24 Hours (Hypercar) after a 50-year absence. A remarkable 70 Ferraris divided into four classes will take part in the first free practice for the one-make series.
Thomas Fleming (HR Owen-FF Corse) and Thomas Neubauer (Charles Pozzi GT Racing) slipped into the top spots from the outset. Endurance racing fans will recognise the latter as having taken the start in the 2021 24 Hours in a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, but an incident shortly before 02:00 on Sunday dashed all JMW Motorsport's hopes (the team he represented) of winning.
Fleming finished the session in first place with an impressive time of 04:00.671, nearly three seconds faster than Bence Valint (Rossocorsa-Ferrari Budapest). Neubauer rounded out the top 3.
Free Practice 2 is set for 09:00 tomorrow.
The year of Porsche's return to the head class at the 24 Hours as well as the marque's 75th anniversary, Porsche Carrera Cup France (PCCF) competitors will take the start in an exceptional race on Saturday 10 June at 10:45. The prestigious one-make championship divided into Pro, Pro/Am, Am and Rookie classes is celebrating its 36th season (the first was held in 1987).
Associated with the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia, both sets of competitors were able to get their bearings at the circuit this morning. Sixty-three Porsche Carrera Cup type 992s hit the track at 09:00, with the #192 driven by 2022 Porsche Supercup champion Dylan Pereira (Mtech Compétition) clocking the quickest lap of 04:01.061. Pereira took the start in the 2021 24 Hours at the wheel of TF Sport's Aston Martin Vantage AMR. Championship leader Alessandro Ghiretti driving Martinet by Alméras' #22 finished fourth in 04:03.065. Dorian Boccolacci in Forestier Racing CLRT's #98, currently second in the season classification, rounded out the top 10 with a time of 04:04.338.
Free Practice 2 is set for 10:55 tomorrow ahead of Friday's qualifying session at 09:00.
