Toyota has started strong in the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans training sessions, setting a time significantly faster than the first Porsche on the time sheet.
Brendon Hartley, driving the Toyota GR010 HYBRID No. 8, recorded a time of 3m26.013s in the first three-hour free practice session, almost a second ahead of the best Porsche time during Sunday's tests. Callum Ilott, with the Jota team's Porsche 963 LMDh, led much of the session with a time of 3m26.610s before being surpassed by Hartley.
Dries Vanthoor, driver of the BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh, provisionally achieved second position before being penalized for exceeding track limits. His time of 3m26.671s placed him third, followed by Julien Andlauer's Proton 963, who improved his time in the final minutes. Nyck de Vries, with an early time of 3m26.918s, ensured that Toyota had two cars in the top five. Alex Lynn, with the Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh, was another standout driver, though a collision at Terte Rouge caused one of the two red flags of the session.
In seventh place was Robin Frijns, driving the second BMW. Ferrari, on the other hand, began with a subdued performance, with the fastest AF Corse car in eighth place, driven by Antonio Fuoco. The debuting Alpine A424 LMDs in Le Mans completed the top 10, while the highest-ranked Peugeot 9X8 was No. 93 in 17th place. The fastest Lamborghini SC63 finished 21st, and the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH closed the Hypercar table.
In LMP2, Louis Deletraz dominated the session with the AO ORECA-Gibson 07 of TF Sport, recording a time of 3m34.245s in the first 20 minutes. James Allen, in the Duqueine No. 30, and Ben Hanley, in the United Autosports No. 23, completed the top three. Last year's GTE Am winner, Ben Keating, went off track at the Porsche Curves and needed assistance to return.
Esteban Masson, with a last lap, positioned Lexus in the top spot of LMGT3 with a time of 3m57.808s, surpassing the previously leading McLaren 720S GT3 Evo No. 70 of Inception, which had a time of 3m58.770s. The Lexus No. 78 also caused a red flag by stopping on the straight after Mulsanne.
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