Lexus and Ferrari drivers squat top 6 LMGT3

WECLMGT3

Jun 11

LMGT3 Lexus and Ferrari drivers squat top 6 LMGT3 class fastest lap time sheet per driver. Two additional Lexus RC F drivers are within the top 10 (5 out of 6). Klaus Bachler (Manthey #90 Porsche 911 LMGT3) and Augusto Farfus (BMW M4 LMGT3 #31) were the only non Ferrari or Lexus drivers in the top 10 fastest lap per driver.

Lopez two seconds faster

Jose Maria Lopez in AKKODIS ASP’s #87 Lexus RC F LMGT3 did top the times in both sessions setting the benchmark of the day with a 3:55.276, almost two seconds faster than his own benchmark in the morning session. His Teammate, Clemens Schmid, was third fastest of Test Day with a 3:56.984.

2 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 within 1.7 seconds

Two Ferrari 296 GT3 are second and third in the ranking per car with Alessio Rovera in the #21 AF Corse second of drivers fastest lap Test Day (3:56.835), and Casper Stevenson driving the #57 Kessel Racing fourth of drivers fastest lap Test Day (3:56.993).

Those four drivers were the only one under the 3:57’ mark.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Le Mans Test Day. #21 AF Corse and the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3

Five of the six Lexus drivers in top 10 fastest lap

It is quite questionable to see five of the six Lexus drivers in the top 10 fastest lap. This means an outrageous domination of the Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F. The BoP change versus last year enabled the Lexus to improve dramatically as Lopez benchmark of the day was almost 4 seconds (3.830 seconds to be precise) quicker than the best Test Day time for the RC F 12 months ago (4:00.106 set by Kelvin van der Linde during the 2024 Test Day morning session versus 3:55.276 this year by Lopez)!

At least it raises questions even though the lap time during test day should not be significant. Per definition, a test is a test of different set-ups, processes, tires etc.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Le Mans Test Day. Davide Rigon #54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 (left) was sixth in Test Day fastest lap per driver ; the three #78 Lexus RC F (right) drivers are within the top 10 Test Day fastest lap per driver!

Both Porsche and BMW in the top 10

With four Ferrari 296 GT3 and the two RC F in the top 8, both BMW M4 GT3 and two Porsche 911 GT3 R are among the top 10. Best of the rest was Klaus Bachler in the #90 Manthey Porsche in sixth, 2.493 slower than the benchmark and Augusto Farfus (BMW M4 GT3 #31°), 2.794 seconds slower than Lopez’s fastest lap.

Porsche #90 — 📷© Luc Warnotte at Le Mans test day. Porsche 911 GT3 R #90.

Klaus Bachler (Porsche 911 GT3 R #90): “I’m super excited – we secured our spot through the Asian Le Mans Series. We have a strong trio, and with Manthey and the Porsche 911 GT3 R, we’re definitely competitive. I hope we can fight for a class win.” Source: Porsche

Augusto Farfus (The Bend Team WRT, #31 BMW M4 GT3 EVO): “We definitely started the test day much better prepared than last year. Overall I think we have a good package. It is still difficult to understand how competitive we are but I think we made solid steps. We learned a lot on the car, now we start to put all together and we will be ready for the race weekend.” Source: BMW Group

Test Day Top 10 classification by driver fastest lap LMPGT3 class

Schedule

Wednesday 11 June 2025
14:00-17:00 Free Practice 1
18:45-19:15 Qualifying (LMGT3)

19:30-20:00 Qualifying (Hypercar)
22:00-00:00 Free Practice 2

Thursday 12 June 2025
14:45-17:45 Free Practice 3
20:00-20:20 Hyperpole 1 (LMGT3)
20:35-20:50 Hyperpole 2 (LMGT3)
21:05-21:25 Hyperpole 1 (Hypercar)
21:40-21:55 Hyperpole 2 (Hypercar)
23:00-00:00 Free Practice 4

Saturday 14 June 2025
12:00-12:15 Warm-up
16:00 Race start

Sunday 15 June 2025
16:00 Race finish