Samwise Sportscar & Endurance Newsletter
Thursday, June 11, 2026
Habsburg Puts Alpine on Provisional Pole as Defending Champion Ferrari and Both Peugeots Miss Hyperpole
Ferdinand Habsburg put the #35 Alpine Endurance Team A424 on provisional Hypercar pole at the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans with a lap of 3:23.135, edging Louis Délétraz in the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota by just 0.013 seconds. The session produced a major upset: the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, the defending Le Mans-winning entry, failed to make the top 15 and was eliminated from Hyperpole contention. Peugeot suffered a double elimination on home soil, with both 9X8 Hypercars failing to advance beyond the first qualifying phase. Three Cadillac entries progressed comfortably to Hyperpole alongside Ferrari’s two factory 499Ps.
Sources: Pit Debrief
Cadillac Locks Out Top Two in Le Mans FP1 with 1.7-Second Gap Over Hypercar Rivals
Cadillac locked out the top two positions in the opening free practice session for the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans on Wednesday, dominating the Hypercar field by a remarkable margin. The #38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota V-Series.R set a benchmark of 3:23.786, while the #101 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac finished 1.56 seconds adrift in second place. The #20 BMW M Team WRT completed the top three, a further 0.19 seconds back. Ferrari’s best effort placed sixth at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The result raised early questions about the Italian manufacturer’s setup heading into qualifying and the race.
Sources: Autosport
Kobayashi Puts Toyota on Top in Eventful Le Mans Night Practice Session
Kamui Kobayashi set the fastest time in the second free practice session for the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans on Wednesday night, posting a lap of 3:26.096 in the #7 Toyota Racing GR010 Hybrid. The session included an early setback: co-driver Nyck de Vries spun at the Goodyear Chicane, causing floor damage that required urgent repairs before Kobayashi returned to the track. The #7 Toyota ultimately beat the #83 AF Corse Ferrari by 0.220 seconds, with the #101 Cadillac WTR third and the #36 Alpine fourth. The night session provided teams with crucial setup data ahead of Thursday’s Hyperpole qualifying.
Sources: Motorsport Week
Ferrari Technical Director Calls 2026 Le Mans Most Difficult Yet as Rivals Close Performance Gap
Ferrari arrived at the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans having won three consecutive editions of the race but acknowledged it no longer enters as the favourite to extend that record. Technical director Ferdinando Cannizzo described the 94th edition as “perhaps the most difficult 24 Hours of Le Mans we have faced as Ferrari,” pointing to strong competition from Cadillac, BMW, Toyota and Alpine in early race-week running. Global Head of Endurance Antonello Coletta described the event as “an extremely tough challenge in which more than one Manufacturer can aspire to victory.” Ferrari’s factory 499Ps advanced to Hyperpole but trailed the pace-setting Alpine by more than a second in qualifying.
Sources: Motorsport.com
Aston Martin Valkyrie Sends Both Entries to Le Mans Hyperpole After Career-Best Spa Result
Aston Martin secured a double entry into Thursday’s Hyperpole session at the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the #007 car of Ross Gunn, Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble finishing seventh in Hypercar qualifying and the #009 entry of Marco Sørensen and teammates ninth. The result builds on the team’s momentum from the preceding 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, where the #007 Valkyrie took fourth place — the strongest WEC finish in the road-derived Hypercar’s career across ten series appearances. Both Valkyries completed the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans without incident, finishing twelfth and fourteenth. The team targets a significantly higher result at the 94th edition.
Sources: Pit Debrief
Doriane Pin Sets Fastest LMP2 Time in Le Mans Qualifying, Advancing Duqueine to Hyperpole
Doriane Pin delivered the standout LMP2 performance in Wednesday’s joint qualifying session at the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans, posting a time of 3:34.662 in the #30 Duqueine Team ORECA-Gibson — 0.8 seconds faster than the 2025 LMP2 pole benchmark at the same circuit. Pin, who shares the car with Julien Andlauer and Richard Verschoor, had already led Free Practice 1 before carrying that momentum directly into qualifying. The CLX Motorsport entry of Ian Aguilera was second, 0.567 seconds behind. Pin’s time secured Duqueine a place in Thursday’s Hyperpole session and drew broad attention across the Le Mans paddock.
Sources: Pit Debrief
Dempsey Disqualified from LMGT3 Qualifying Pole; Seven Marques in Top Seven Positions
Peter Dempsey was disqualified from provisional LMGT3 pole position at the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans after the #34 Racing Team Turkey Corvette was found to have excessive rear diffuser wear during post-qualifying scrutineering. The disqualification elevated Eric Powell’s #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 to the top of the LMGT3 Hyperpole order, with Gray Newell’s #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR just 0.024 seconds behind. Seven different marques occupied the top seven positions in LMGT3 — Corvette, Ford, Aston Martin, Porsche, BMW, Ferrari and Lexus — underlining the competitive spread across the class heading into Hyperpole.
Sources: Pit Debrief
Cadillac Emerges as Genuine Le Mans Favourite After Aerodynamic Updates Close Top-Speed Gap
Cadillac arrives at the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans as a genuine contender for overall victory after addressing the top-speed deficit that hampered previous campaigns with an updated aerodynamic package. The manufacturer locked out the top two positions in Free Practice 1 before three of four entries advanced comfortably into Thursday’s Hyperpole session following qualifying. A motorsport.com analysis of Le Mans test and early race-week sessions identifies Cadillac, BMW and Toyota as the strongest Hypercar runners for the 94th edition. The #12 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota finished just 0.013 seconds behind provisional pole in Hypercar qualifying, with Louis Délétraz placing second in the evening session.
Sources: Motorsport.com
WEC Hypercar — Drivers
1. René Rast / Robin Frijns — 35 pts
2. Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa / Sébastien Buemi — 26 pts
3. Sheldon van der Linde — 25 pts
4. Kamui Kobayashi / Mike Conway / Nyck de Vries — 25 pts
5. Kevin Magnussen / Raffaele Marciello — 24 pts
6. Antonio Fuoco / Miguel Molina / Nicklas Nielsen — 23 pts
7. Alessandro Pier Guidi / Antonio Giovinazzi / James Calado — 19 pts
8. Dries Vanthoor — 18 pts
9. Harry Tincknell / Tom Gamble — 14 pts
10. António Félix da Costa / Charles Milesi / Ferdinand Habsburg — 12 pts
WEC Hypercar — Manufacturers
1. BMW — 59 pts
2. Toyota — 52 pts
3. Ferrari — 42 pts
IMSA GTP — Drivers
1. Jack Aitken — 1,760 pts
2. Laurin Heinrich — 1,616 pts
3. Felipe Nasr — 1,606 pts
3. Julien Andlauer — 1,606 pts
5. Earl Bamber — 1,412 pts
IMSA GTP — Teams
1. #31 Cadillac Whelen (Action Express) — 1,760 pts
2. #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport — 1,606 pts
WEC standings after Round 2 (Spa-Francorchamps). IMSA standings after Round 5 (Detroit). Le Mans (Round 3) results pending.
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.