Cadillac fastest but BMW in pole!

WECHyperCar

Jun 12

BMW, Cadillac and Alpine confirmed their qualifying best performance by squatting the top five spots on the starting grid for this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. Cadillac celebrated a second consecutive Hypercar pole position this season; however, Aitken’s best lap in the #38 Cadillac V-Series.R was stripped due to having left the working lane to join the fast lane at the beginning of the session before being authorised to do so. This promoted the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 that Vanthoor shares with Kevin Magnussen and Raffaele Marciello to pole.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Le Mans 2026. #15 BMW M Hybrid V8

BMW #15 in pole

At the very end of the session, BMW M Team WRT’s Dries Vanthoor lost his pole being beaten by Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s Jack Aitken for five thousandths-of-a-second. Still the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 that Vanthoor shares with Kevin Magnussen and Raffaele Marciello was promoted to pole due to a procedure infringement by the Cadillac team. That is the very first pole position ever for BMW M Motorsport at Le Mans. with a time of 3:22.564.

Dries Vanthoor (BMW M Team WRT, #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, Pole position): “I’m super happy to be on pole at Le Mans! This is such a great event, and now being on pole here and giving everyone in the team what they deserve, is awesome. At the same time our goal is to win the race, so we need to keep it clean over 24 hours to be right there on Sunday.”

Cadillac #12 in front row

Will Stevens, co-driver of the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, who drives with Louis Deletraz (qualifying second) and Norman Nato, clocked in with a lap of 3 minutes, 23.078 seconds, just behind pole winner Dries Vanthoor who was .514 of a second ahead.

Will Stevens #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R: “It was a good day for the team. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in improving the package compared to last year. We know we are in a better position. It’s going to be a very exciting race, and I think it will be a battle. It was a good effort by the team and now we need to have a good rest and get ready for the race.”

#35 Alpine third

After setting the fastest time in qualifying practice and Hyperpole 1, the #35 Alpine A424 driven by Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi and Antonio Felix da Costa will start from third place on the grid. Charles Milesi, did put the #35 car atop of Hyperpole 1 table with a time of 3:23.018s. António Félix da Costa completed his first two laps in 3:25.083s and 3:23.854s before finishing his session in 3:23.620s to lift the #35 car to third place on the grid.

António Félix da Costa: “We definitely can fight from third on the grid. This week, we've focused on our race pace, which, as always, will be crucial, no matter the conditions. It's always incredible to take part in a Hypercar session at Le Mans, with just ten cars on track. I was lacking a bit of preparation as it had been a few years since I'd last been here in a Hypercar, so I'm pleased with this result, and I think the race will be really fun to watch.”

Charles Milesi: “The practice sessions allowed us to move forward despite some challenging conditions at times. We completed our programme and validated key aspects regarding the tyres, giving us a clearer picture for our race strategy. Qualifying also went well, and third place is a positive result for the entire team. Now, all our focus is on the race, where it will be crucial to keep avoiding mistakes and perfecting every detail. We know it will be a very close battle, but I'm sure we have the pace to be in contention if we put in a clean race.” Source: Alpine

#20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8 fourth

In the #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, Robin Frijns completed the excellent team result in the Hypercar class by finishing fourth.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Le Mans 2026. #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8

Robin Frijns (BMW M Team WRT, #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, 4th place): “It was the goal to be in the top-five, and in the end we are in P4. That means we are a bit out of the jungle at the start, which is good. My laptimes were pretty far off. I wasn’t so happy with my runs in Hyperpole 2. I’m not where I should be, so we need to see where we can improve for the race.” Source: BMW

Cadillac WTR V-Series.R fifth

Filipe Albuquerque, who is co-driving the #101 Cadillac WTR V-Series.R for Wayne Taylor Racing with Ricky Tayor and Jordan Taylor posted the fifth best time of 3 minutes and 23.778 seconds.

Filipe Albuquerque #101 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R: “I think it's still good. P5, for a 24-hour race, especially at Le Mans. Staying out of trouble is the most important thing here. We have great cars. I think we just did a not ideal strategy. We went with a medium compound when everyone else was on softs. We keep learning. I guess we are the only outliers from WEC. They know how to choose between tires I guess. So, we keep learning. But again, I'm happy with the car, with the team. They did great qualifying always on the top. Again, with top five. And again, the race is long. We have a fast car, so no mistakes for now.”

Cadillac #38 dropped to fifth row

Jack Aitken, co-driver of the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R with Earl Bamber and local native Sebastien Bourdais posted a lap time of 3 minutes, 26.865 seconds.

Aitken had initially set the fastest lap, but due to a procedural error when leaving the pit lane, that lap time was subsequently deleted and the No. 38 will start 10th in the Hypercar field.

Jack Aitken #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R: “Yeah, unfortunately, the lap was deleted due to a procedural error. However, it does show that we had fantastic pace to be quickest, third quickest and three Cadillacs all in the Hyperpole 2. And, you know, even if we don't get to start in the pole position, we're still going to work our way through on the weekend and have shown that we have great pace. The car felt really, really strong. The guys did an amazing job to just improve it step-by-step over the last couple of days. And yeah, to put a lap together like that is always something kind of special and even more at a track like this. So, it was very enjoyable for the 20 minutes that I had the pole. And even now it's still, you know, still a cool lap to have done.” Source: Cadillac