Cadillac leads the way in opening Le Mans practice
The first three-hour free practice session for the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans has just concluded at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Teams across the Hypercar, LMGT3 and LMP2 categories took to the track under mostly cloudy skies, with air temperatures hovering around 19°C and track temperatures reaching 28°C.
Those relatively mild conditions are expected to become even cooler later in the evening, ahead of both the qualifying session and the important second free practice session scheduled for 22:00. That session will be particularly significant, as it will allow teams to gather valuable data under nighttime conditions that will play a major role during the race itself.
Over the course of the three-hour session, there were no major interruptions, allowing teams to complete their planned programmes and collect data around the iconic French circuit.
Cadillac dominates the Hypercar field
At the top of the Hypercar category was the #38 Hertz Jota Cadillac, which posted a fastest lap of 3:23.786.
Second place went to the sister Cadillac, the #101 Wayne Taylor Racing entry, which stopped the clock at 3:25.348, finishing 1.562 seconds behind the benchmark. Completing the top three was the #20 BMW WRT Hypercar, which recorded a best lap of 3:25.533, just 0.185 seconds behind the second-placed Cadillac and 1.747 seconds adrift of the session leader.
Alpine also enjoyed a strong session, finishing fourth, while Toyota once again remained firmly attached to the leading group. Ferrari showed some improvement compared to the opening test day but still found itself trailing the front-runners. The Italian manufacturer ended the session in sixth place and continues to search for the pace that made the 499P such a dominant force in recent editions of the race.
LMGT3 FP1 results: Lexus continues to impress
The LMGT3 category also wrapped up its first free practice session, and as often happens in GT racing, the field remained incredibly competitive with only small margins separating many of the entries.
Leading the way was the Akkodis Lexus, which posted a fastest lap of 3:55.737. Second place went to the #32 BMW WRT entry, just 0.100 seconds behind the Lexus with a lap of 3:55.837. The other BMW WRT car completed the provisional podium, recording an identical 3:55.837 lap time and finishing only a thousandth of a second behind its sister machine.
The Ferraris in the category struggled to feature near the front, with the best of the 296 LMGT3 entries only managing 12th position.
LMP2 FP1 results: Duqueine Team on top
The LMP2 category also completed its first practice session of the week, with the prototype field once again demonstrating how tightly contested the class remains.
The #30 Duqueine Team Oreca topped the timesheets with a best lap of 3:35.248. Second place went to the #14 TDS Racing Oreca, which finished 0.710 seconds behind the leader thanks to a lap of 3:35.958.
IDEC Sport completed the top three with a fastest time of 3:36.189.
Qualifying next on the schedule
The next major session will see all competitors return to the track for the first qualifying round, which will determine the 15 fastest crews in each class that advance to Thursday evening’s Hyperpole 1 session.
Following qualifying, teams and drivers will head back out for the second free practice session at 22:00. Running under darkness will be crucial as teams continue preparing their cars for the unique challenges presented by the overnight hours of the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours.
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