French marque Alpine, with Ferdinand Habsburg at the wheel, went quickest in Hyperpole Qualifying, sending the A424 Hypercar to the fastest time of the week so far and under the 2025 pole time.
As evening arrived, it was time for Hyperpole Qualifying. Eighteen Hypercars from eight manufacturers were unleashed onto the Circuit de la Sarthe in their lightest, most aggressive trim to date, with the sole objective of reaching tomorrow evening’s Hyperpole knockout sessions. Only 15 would progress. Three would be eliminated.
In the first round of representative laps, Tom Gamble in the #007 Aston Martin Thor Team entry struck first with a 3:24.163. On the second pass, the #009 nestled in behind, with a chasing pack of three Cadillacs, two BMWs, an Alpine and a Toyota all within half a second as the session entered its second phase.
With five minutes left on the clock, teams turned up the wick, dipping below the 3:24 barrier and edging ever closer to the pole time of 3:23.166 set one year ago.
Aston Martin, then Alpine, then BMW all went quicker before the #101 WTR Cadillac broke the beam with a 3:23.323, with two minutes remaining. A tantalising one-lap shootout ensued.
New Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA recruit Louis Delétraz went faster still and under the 2025 benchmark. Then, seconds later, out of nowhere, Ferdinand Habsburg, on Alpine’s Le Mans swansong, set the fastest time of the week so far with a 3:23.135.
Genesis were delighted. On its Le Mans debut, the two Magma-inspired cars successfully made it through to tomorrow’s session. Meanwhile, two major stories echoed around the circuit.
Peugeot were eliminated from Hyperpole Qualifying, with the French manufacturer managing only 16th and 18th places with its 9X8s, while the pain continued for the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, whose week was going from bad to worse.
The reigning champions were dumped out. No matter how hard Philip Hanson tried, the yellow 499P will play no further part in tomorrow’s shootout.
Hypercar Qualifiers
1. Alpine A424 #35 Alpine Endurance Team – António Félix Da Costa / Charles Milesi / Ferdinand Habsburg
2. Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Louis Delétraz / Will Stevens / Norman Nato
3. Cadillac V-Series.R #101 Cadillac WTR – Ricky Taylor / Jordan Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque
4. BMW M Hybrid V8 #20 BMW M Team WRT – Robin Frijns / Rene Rast / Sheldon van der Linde
5. Cadillac V-Series.R #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Sébastien Bourdais / Earl Bamber / Jack Aitken
6. BMW M Hybrid V8 #15 BMW M Team WRT – Kevin Magnussen / Raffaele Marciello / Dries Vanthoor
7. Aston Martin Valkyrie #009 Aston Martin THOR Team – Alex Riberas / Marco Sørensen / Roman De Angelis
8. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Sébastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa
9. Aston Martin Valkyrie #007 Aston Martin THOR Team – Harry Tincknell / Tom Gamble / Ross Gun
10. Alpine A424 #36 Alpine Endurance Team – Frédéric Makowiecki / Jules Gounon / Victor Martins
11. Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar #19 Genesis Magma Racing – Mathieu Jaminet / Paul-Loup Chatin / Daniel Juncadella
12. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Mike Conway / Kamui Kobayashi / Nyck de Vries
13. Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar #17 Genesis Magma Racing – André Lotterer / Luis Felipe Derani / Mathys Jaubert
14. Ferrari 499P #50 Ferrari-AF Corse – Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina
15. Ferrari 499P #51 Ferrari-AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi
More about the Hypercar class
Major manufacturers Aston Martin, Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Genesis, Peugeot and Toyota are aligning Hypercars in what promises to be an epic battle.
In 2021, Hypercar became the top class in endurance and the FIA World Endurance Championship, which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Two types of car compete in the class: the Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) and the Le Mans Daytona h (LMDh).
LMH and LMDh cars compete against each other in the FIA WEC and in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and can therefore enter the 24-hour races at Le Mans and Daytona.
The two types
LMH
These regulations leave scope for a wide variety of architectures and allow a front-axle hybrid system to be fitted.
LMDh
In LMDh, the backbone of the car – i.e. the whole car minus the internal combustion engine, the body and the hybrid system – will be supplied by one of four chassis manufacturers: Dallara, Multimatic, Ligier and Oreca.
Hypercars are hybrid or non-hybrid closed cockpit prototypes, shod with Michelin tyres. All three drivers are professionals. Their minimum weight is 1,030 kg and maximum power is 500 kW (680 hp). The Balance of Performance system guarantees a level playing field. They complete a lap of the 13.626-km Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans in 3.5 minutes.
Jamie Chadwick made history in the Hypercar class
Jamie Chadwick drove a Hypercar on the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans for the first time on Test Day, the first woman racer to take the wheel in the top class of endurance.
Like all topflight categories, the Hypercar class attracts the world’s best. Three-time champion in W Series between 2019 and 2022, Jamie Chadwick has since joined the Genesis Magma Racing Hypercar programme. As reserve driver, she was honoured to drive five laps in the #17 GMR-001-Hypercar on 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day. It was not her first time on the circuit, she competed in last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 with IDEC Sport, teamed with Mathys Jaubert and André Lotterer.
Hypercar is significantly different to LMP2. Everything is more extreme, faster, both in a straight line and on corners. Traffic is more of an issue, on the Mulsanne Straight and in the trickier sections. Power management is subtler. The prototype requires sharper reflexes. “It was incredible. I think it’s only a question of time before we see many women on the Hypercar grid at Le Mans. I hope so. It’s a step in the right direction anyway,” she declared in a recent interview.
Women have always played a part at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and she follows in their footsteps. The first women to participate were Marguerite Mareuse and Odette Siko, in 1930. Siko took fourth place overall in 1932. Since then, many women have made their mark on the race. Among them, Christine Beckers, who won her class in 1974 with Yvette Fontaine and Marie Laurent, and more recently, Doriane Pin, Mercedes-AMG Formula One development driver on the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 grid in the Duqueine Team #30 Oreca 07-Gibson.
With this appearance in Hypercar, Jamie Chadwick, who already has a long list of achievement, is leading the way. She’s showing that her seat in a Hypercar is within reach. By Melissa Warren
