***The Heart of Racing Team’s Aston Martin Valkyrie set the pace on Sunday’s Le Mans test day, with Tom Gamble steering the No. 007 machine to a 3:26.293, marking the Valkyrie LMH prototype’s first session win at Circuit de la Sarthe.
***Gamble described the Valkyrie’s feel on Sunday as “night and day” compared with its Le Mans debut last year, noting improvements in the car’s systems and its overall balance.
***Nevertheless, Gamble downplayed the importance of leading the timing sheets. “You don’t know what other teams are doing,” he remarked. “We’re doing our own thing. It’s a nice confidence boost, but it’s not really meaningful—much like taking pole for this race in qualifying; it’s pleasant, but the goal is to be at the sharp end come Sunday afternoon. We’ll see, but it’s a morale lift for the crew.”
***The No. 8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid recovered from an early-session crash involving Ryo Hirakawa and Le Mans rookie Jake Hughes in the Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07 Gibson No. 25, finishing as the day’s second-fastest, thanks to Brendon Hartley’s 3:26.401 lap. Co-driver Sebastien Buemi’s 3:26.827 would also have placed the car runner-up on the day’s charts.
***Hirakawa maintained he “couldn’t do anything” to prevent Hughes’ spin on the Briton’s out-lap when the two collided in Turn 3 late in the session. “It was unfortunate, but hopefully it means we’ve got our bad luck out of the way before the race.” The Japanese driver, however, remained confident about the progress of the upgraded LMH-based prototype. “It’s looking good; a big step compared to last year,” he said. “We didn’t lose any time in the afternoon, so a big kudos to the mechanics.”
***Hughes, for his part, managed to complete his required ten laps in the second session, totaling 16 laps overall.
***Toyota No. 8 race engineer, Ryan Dingle, said they completed about “90 percent” of the test program despite the incident. “We could assess what has changed on the circuit and, of course, the new tire,” he noted. “We have more compounds to choose from here than at other WEC rounds, which presents new opportunities and new challenges.”
***The note about the circuit changes refers to resurfacing work between the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight (the Daytona chicane) and the end of the Mulsanne Straight since last year’s Le Mans.
***Hartley, meanwhile, matched the top speeds of the Alpine A424s driven by Ferdinand Habsburg and Victor Martins, all reaching 345.1 km/h (214.4 mph).
***Alpine newcomer Martins, who posted the day’s fifth-fastest time, described his initial experience of Circuit de la Sarthe as “incredible.” The French driver added: “Going at 340 km/h along the Hunaudières (Mulsanne Straight), it’s crazy. Really enjoyable, and I think we worked very well on the car’s key areas and learned a few important things. I feel ready for my first Le Mans.”
***Toyota reserve driver Esteban Masson completed four laps in the No. 7 Toyota, posting the second-slowest Hypercar time with a 3:34.263, while Genesis Magma Racing’s reserve Jamie Chadwick clocked a 3:35.909 in the No. 17 Genesis GMR-001 after five laps.
***Wayne Taylor, whose U.S.-based squad led the opening session with Filipe Albuquerque and finished the day sixth in the No. 101 Cadillac V-Series.R, called it a “really good day” given the positive feedback from their drivers, who are collaborating closely with the Hertz Team JOTA pilots and the British outfit.
***Taylor added: “I don’t know if anyone was aiming to set times today. We made some changes in the last session, and we believe it’s an improvement. Honestly, everyone from GM and Cadillac Racing has supported this three-car effort very, very well. And I’m pretty excited for the week.”
***Mathys Jaubert admitted Le Mans proved more challenging to master in a Hypercar for his first time than other tracks he has visited this season, after competing in LMP2 on his Le Mans debut last year. “It’s a track that’s completely different from the others,” he said. “I adapt quickly on the others, but here I feel I must push a lot to stay on pace. Clearly I am, but it feels like you have to push 110 percent every lap.”
***Genesis enjoyed a productive day as the GMR-001 ran on Le Mans for the first time, with Paul-Loup Chatin finishing tenth on the overall standings. “We tried different tires, different philosophies, different mappings, and now we have to analyze everything to find the best possible approach,” said Jaubert as the manufacturer focused on race pace.
***Leading the Hypercar laps was the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8, clocking 86 laps across the day, including a session-high 49 in the afternoon, while the No. 009 Aston Martin followed with 83 laps. At the lower end, the No. 51 Ferrari 499P logged 58 laps.
***Notably, the No. 15 BMW crew—Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen—tried all three new compounds from Michelin’s Pilot Sport Endurance tire lineup.
***WRT’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP driver Philipp Eng completed five laps in each BMW, ensuring he’s ready to sub if needed for one of the six drivers. Marco Wittmann, listed in both cars for the test day, did not drive any laps.
***Leading the LMP2 lap count were the No. 343 Inter Europol Competition Oreca and the No. 37 CLX Motorsport Oreca, each on 78 laps, while the LMGT3 mileage leader was the No. 10 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo with 76 laps.
***The No. 20 BMW of Robin Frijns improved late to seventh, though BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos said neither car undertook qualifying simulations. “We focused on obtaining a proper read on the tires and accumulating mileage on the cars and tires; that was our main priority,” he told reporters.
***Roos dismissed the likelihood of using the Hard compound in the race given the current forecast. “If it doesn’t heat up beyond this, getting the Hard tire into the right window will be difficult,” he explained. “That’s expected, but we tried all three tires and also tried to maximize stint lengths to see how many stints we can run and to understand tire behavior.”
***The question remains whether Hypercar squads will be allowed to run quadruple stints during the race, a decision Michelin must approve to ensure equal opportunity. “You need to talk to Michelin,” Roos said. “First they have to permit it. That’s standard at the pre-test—you check the tires. Now Michelin is reviewing and will decide what to do.”
***Roos downplayed the notion that the gap between the fastest Hypercar and the eight manufacturers was as small as nine-tenths of a second. “I wouldn’t read too much into it, to be honest, because teams were focused on different objectives,” he said. “We didn’t monitor what the leaders were doing; we stayed focused on our own program and test objectives.”
***Peugeot driver Paul di Resta believes the cooler conditions could elevate the Soft compound’s relevance in the race. Like BMW, Peugeot ran all three compounds with its two 9X8s during the test, and di Resta noted a reduced tire-difference between compounds now.
***He added: “Considering how cold it was last night, Soft could be a tire option, but it also depends on track condition. If the track has a solid rubber base and the weather remains stable all week, that will push us toward harder compounds. There’s also the uncertainty of a chaotic night race. If it’s chaotic at night, the warmup will help Soft, but that also depends on durability. Doing this with 14 tire sets while dealing with punctures isn’t easy.”
***Di Resta also explained Peugeot prioritized giving Hypercar rookie Nick Cassidy ample running in the No. 93 car (the New Zealander completed 33 laps to di Resta’s 22) while sharing with Stoffel Vandoorne, who finished the day 11th on the combined times. “We prioritized Nick because this is his first Le Mans in GT competition, so we gave him a lot of track time today,” di Resta stated.
***WRT team principal Vincent Vosse singled out the speed of the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs, which ended the day third, fourth, seventh and 23rd quickest in LMGT3, though the four fastest top speeds in the opening session were led by 13 Autosport’s Lars Kearn at 296.2 km/h (181.1 mph). By comparison, the quickest BMW M4 GT3 EVO was fifth in the speed traps, driven by Darren Leung in the first session.
***Vosse commented: “I’d say the Corvette looks incredibly strong. But that’s not our main focus right now. We’re concentrating on what we can do, what our intended stint will be, and that’s our primary concern.”
***Corvette Racing program manager Andrea Hidalgo added: “We’re satisfied with how the Corvettes performed as a whole and with the level of preparation from our teams on Test Day. This isn’t an easy event to execute even for the most seasoned group, so today’s result is a positive sign.”
***Ben Keating completed 33 laps in the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette, returning to the cockpit for the first time since his elbow fracture. “I hopped in the car four times, and I’ve gotten markedly better each run, which is all I can ask for,” he said. “In that last stint my time was close to what I qualified last year, which is very encouraging.”
***Keating added: “The Corvette shows strong top speed but isn’t as strong in acceleration, which makes for an interesting dynamic. I see many drivers avoiding tows and reacting to other strategic plays. There are still some games being played out there.”
***Schnitzer Motorsport co-founder Herbert Schnitzer passed away on Friday at 85. The German squad, which shut its doors in 2021, had been BMW’s most successful team in GT and touring cars, and Schnitzer was the brains behind BMW’s most recent overall Le Mans win in 1999 with Winkelhock, Martini and Dalmas driving the BMW V12 LMR.
***A BMW M Motorsport statement read: “The BMW M Motorsport family mourns the passing of Herbert Schnitzer. He and his brothers built a motorsport dynasty. For decades, Team Schnitzer celebrated countless victories with BMW race cars worldwide and created unforgettable memories.”
***With the test day in the books, action on track will pause, and public roads will return to regular traffic for the next two days before track activity resumes on Wednesday, with the opening WEC session—Free Practice at 2 p.m. CEST (8 a.m. EST).
Jamie Klein & Stephen Lickorish contributed to this report
