We’re one day closer to the greatest race in the world, but first there’s a bumper Thursday to enjoy! Two free practice sessions and the all important Hyperpole! With the crucial qualifying session to come, FP3 serves a last chance to get the qualifying setup just right? But who will top the timing sheets after a dramatic FP2 last night.

For Toyota and Kessel Racing, there was work to be done overnight following a big crash at the Porsche Curves for the #8 and #57. Luckily, both had been repaired in the hours between and thus they were able to run in this session.

Opening the session would be BMW, who got both their V8 Hybrids out first along with WRT’s LMGT3 M4.

Meanwhile, Peugeot were still trying to find time and in the pursuit of motorsport’s most valuable currency they kept their cars in the garage for the opening minutes. The Peugeot team have been open about their struggles during this week, seeming despondrnt following a disappointing Sunday test and Hyperpole with neither car cracking the top fifteen.

Early pace setters meanwhile included Ferrari in Hypercar, with the #51 and #83 running in the top two spots. Happily for Toyota the #8 was up to third fastest in the first fifteen minutes after a swift repair job. Mclaren topped the timing sheets in LMGT3 meanwhile with both United Autosport-run cars. LMP2 saw AO Racing’s “Spike” #199 car set some of the fastest times throughout, with the #48 of VDS Panis and #23 of United Autosports also topping the sheets at points.

Aston Martin also continued with their promising Le Mans week, having already secured a spot in Hyperpole thanks to Marco Sorensen’s magic in the #009 car they had both cars in the top fifteen. Most notably it was the #007 that was running as high as ninth fastest with Harry Tincknell, who has experience in the top class before. The Brit was part of Nissan’s ill-fated 2015 GTR-LM programme that was axed after its only ever race at this track ten years ago.

The first interruption came courtesy of the #54 AF Corse Ferrari, as Thomas Flohr beached his Ferrari 296 LMGT3 at the Ford chicane’s gravel trap, running over the kerb and losing the rear. The result was a slow zone through the final part of Sector 3, meaning the next few laps would be ruined for anyone coming through. The #54 meanwhile would end up in the garage with a destroyed clutch, the car losing significant time during the repairs.

Iron Lynx’s #9 LMP2 machine would then end up in the barriers at Indianapolis, Jonas Reid having gone straight on and ended up in the barriers at what is a very tricky braking zone that can catch out even the best. Really, it’s the Circuit De La Sarthe’s answer to Montreal’s Champions corner. It would get going after a couple of stationary minutes, limping back to the pits as a slowzone was put out to deal with the debris.

As the session continued, Porsche posted quick times, with the #5 and #6 posting the fastest times of the non-Ferrari Hypercars, with BMW’s #15 car also running as high as seventh. Alpine struggled, with seventeenth and eighteenth for their cars. LMP2 was mostly unchanged, save for IDEC Sport’s #18 posting the third fastest time in the opening ninety minutes with Paul Lafarge. LMGT3 still lay firmly with Mclaren, who dominated the session similar to how Akkodis ASP stole the show last night in FP2.

Another LMP2 in the barriers would be the #37 Pure Racing of Alex Malykhin, losing its front left bodywork an exposing the tyre. The incident took place at the first chicane on the Mulsanne, with Malykhin taking avoiding action from Iron Dames’ #85 car that had run wide on corner exit.

Barely seconds later Francois Perrodo would end up in the barriers at the Porsche curves, bringing out a red flag. Perrodo had carried too much speed through the section in his #183 AF Corse and ultimately ended up with a big repair job for the mechanics. The Pro/Am class LMP2 would make it out of the barriers and back into the pits, but by the time it did the Red Flag had already been brought out.

The session resumed with one hour and ten minutes to go, cars now able to get in the crucial final laps before Hyperpole this evening. And as the third and final hour of the session began Nicky Catsburg was found running slowly along the Mulsanne in his #45 Algarve Pro Racing machine, yet more drama for the LMP2 category in what has been a relatively attrition filled session for the class. At the top though United Autosports’ #23 had a deficit of just thirty thousandths to the #29 TDS Racing Pro/Am car.

In Hypercar, BMW’s qualifying ace Dries Vanthoor came on the radio with just over half an hour remaining, reporting of back pain and crawled through his impromptu in-lap and pitted for a driver change.

LMP2 kept on giving the session stoppages, with the #28 IDEC Sport car lost its front left wheel inexplicably, the tyre rolling away from the car smoothly and cleanly luckily running into the barriers before it stopped having thankfully not hit anyone. A slow zone was called out to deal with the errand tyre.

In LMGT3 meanwhile Mclaren’s stranglehold on the top spot was shaken by Porsche, with Manthey’s #92 now setting the fastest time with the #78 Lexus and both Aston Martins running now in the top five, as Hypercar had a new fastest lap from the #5 factory Porsche. It was nearly a second faster than the #50 Ferrari and #38 Cadillac. LMP2 was still headed by the #29 TDS Racing machine. And that’s how things stayed as the session winded down to a close. Hyperpole is still to come, as will FP4 but for now we’re one step closer to Saturday at 3pm!

thumbnail credit – Lukas Raich, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons