Ferrari Claims Pole for the Centennial 24 Hours of Le Mans

Ferrari may have focused its attentions on Formula 1 for the past half-century, but the brand made its name at Le Mans. The brand's nine wins from 1949 to 1965 were the standard until the 1980s, and beating Ferrari in the race was once a king-making moment for all of Ford, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Porsche, and Mercedes. That tradition ended in 1973, when the Ferrari 312PBs failed to win from pole. This year marks the first top-class entry for the Ferrari factory since, and their attempt to win the race for a tenth time is off to the best possible start.

AF Corse Ferrari driver Antonio Fuoco set the day's fastest lap in the 30-minute Hyperpole qualifying session, leading a front row lockout for Ferrari and their new 499P racer. Fuoco was the only driver to dip into the 3:22 range, setting pole with a time of 3:22.982 even after catching GT traffic in Arnage while a second up on his best-ever time during during his fast lap.

Ferrari has a lead of 1.5 seconds over the rest of the field, with the No. 8 Toyota GR010 setting the standard for the rest of the field with a lap of 3:24.451. The No. 75 Porsche 963, No. 7 Toyota, and No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R round out the first three rows. The No. 3 Cadillac had set a lap time quick enough to start on the third row, but that car caught fire during its second flying lap and brought out a red flag that erased their time. The fire was put out quickly, but that Chip Ganassi Racing team will have to work late to get the car ready for Saturday's race. Entries from Peugeot, Glickenhaus, and Vanwall failed to set a time quick enough yesterday to make today's eight-car Hypercar shootout.

While the top Hypercar class is the only all-pro class in this year's race, the pro-am LMP2 and GTE-Am classes both participated in the Hyperpole session, too. Paul-Loup Chatin set pole in LMP2 for IDEC Sport, while Corvette Racing's Bronze-rated driver Ben Keating took pole in GTE-Am by more than a second and a half. That result is particularly notable for the Corvette team; while both Keating and team operator Pratt Miller may continue racing in the World Endurance Championship with a Corvette Z06.R next season, this is the final Le Mans for both the C8.R and the Corvette Racing team as we know it today.

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