Filipe Albuquerque put Cadillac at the top of the timesheets at the halfway point of the Le Mans 24 Hours test day, as an incident involving Toyota caused a red flag.
The opening three hours of Test Day proved highly productive, with all 18 Hypercar entries having already set a timed lap before the first half-hour of running had even elapsed.
As each manufacturer worked through its programme and lap counts steadily increased, Will Stevens initially set the benchmark with a 3m27.843s lap in the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R. That time remained more than one and a half seconds slower than the reference established by Toyota at the end of Test Day in 2025.
Midway through the session, Race Control elected to carry out a safety car procedure drill. The exercise lasted nearly 40 minutes and, unsurprisingly, brought any potential improvements in lap times to a halt. Once the session resumed, with less than an hour remaining before the chequered flag, a Full Course Yellow period was deployed to clear debris from the track.
Hirakawa and LMP2 involved in collision
After a relatively uneventful start to the day, the first significant incident occurred with 30 minutes remaining in the session, as the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid and the #25 Algarve Pro Oreca 07 made contact at the exit of the Goodyear Chicane (formerly Dunlop Chicane).
Toyota driver Ryo Hirakawa appeared unable to avoid the LMP2 car after it lost control ahead of him. The Japanese driver initially attempted to continue before eventually climbing out of the car.
#35 Alpine
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
The Toyota sustained visible rear-end damage and had to be recovered by a tow truck. The Oreca, driven by Jake Hughes, was also unable to return to the pits under its own power.
The recovery operation was completed quickly enough to allow competitors back onto the circuit for the final 15 minutes of the session, and many drivers took advantage of the opportunity to complete a short run and improve their times.
In the end, it was Wayne Taylor Racing’s #101 Cadillac that came out on top, thanks to a 3m27.011s lap from Albuquerque. The Portuguese driver finished 0.328s clear of the #35 Alpine A424 and 0.832s ahead of the No. 12 Cadillac.
A second three-hour session is scheduled to take place from 3:30pm to 6:30pm local time.
Le Mans test day – Morning results
| POS | NO | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 101 | CADILLAC WTR | 27 | 3:27.011 |
| 2 | 35 | ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM | 27 | 3:27.339 |
| 3 | 12 | CADILLAC HERTZ TEAM JOTA | 35 | 3:27.843 |
| 4 | 009 | ASTON MARTIN THOR TEAM | 36 | 3:28.086 |
| 5 | 50 | FERRARI AF CORSE | 28 | 3:28.291 |
| 6 | 8 | TOYOTA RACING | 33 | 3:28.319 |
| 7 | 7 | TOYOTA RACING | 30 | 3:28.468 |
| 8 | 15 | BMW M TEAM WRT | 37 | 3:28.623 |
| 9 | 20 | BMW M TEAM WRT | 37 | 3:28.698 |
| 10 | 007 | ASTON MARTIN THOR TEAM | 36 | 3:28.730 |
| 11 | 17 | GENESIS MAGMA RACING | 37 | 3:28.738 |
| 12 | 51 | FERRARI AF CORSE | 31 | 3:28.774 |
| 13 | 38 | CADILLAC HERTZ TEAM JOTA | 34 | 3:28.825 |
| 14 | 83 | AF CORSE | 28 | 3:28.896 |
| 15 | 93 | PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES | 36 | 3:29.271 |
| 16 | 94 | PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES | 30 | 3:29.285 |
| 17 | 36 | ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM | 25 | 3:29.390 |
| 18 | 19 | GENESIS MAGMA RACING | 30 | 3:29.988 |
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