The Hyperpole session for the Le Mans 24 Hours has been postponed by 30 minutes to facilitate barrier repairs after a significant crash occurred during a support race on Thursday evening.
The highly anticipated pole shootout for the fourth round of the 2024 World Endurance Championship faced unexpected delays. Originally scheduled to start at 8 pm local time, the Hyperpole session was first rescheduled to 8:30 pm and then further postponed to 8:35 pm as crews worked to replace armco barriers between Mulsanne and Indianapolis.
This disruption followed a major incident during a support race on Thursday evening. With just 15 minutes remaining, Graff driver Louis Rossi crashed his #9 Ligier JS P320 LMP3 car heavily, prompting a red flag. Although Rossi emerged unscathed, both his vehicle and the barriers suffered significant damage. Details of the crash remain unclear, with no replays shown and potential causes ranging from technical issues to a collision with another car.
Hyperpole, set to feature eight cars from each of the three classes, will determine the grid positions for the 92nd running of this French endurance classic. However, only seven Hypercars will compete for pole position. The Jota team will miss the session as they rebuild their #12 Porsche 963 with a new chassis. Jota’s entry into Q2 came after Kamui Kobayashi’s laps in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid were invalidated for causing a red flag. Unfortunately, Callum Ilott’s crash during night practice on Wednesday damaged the Porsche tub beyond repair.
In the initial qualifying segment, Dries Vanthoor led in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, closely followed by Sebastien Bourdais in the #3 Cadillac V-Series.R. Malthe Jakobsen topped the LMP2 class in the #37 Cool Racing ORECA-Gibson 07, while Ben Barker led the new LMGT3 division in the #77 Proton Ford Mustang GT3.
As the weekend unfolds, all eyes will be on the remaining contenders as they battle for pole position in this legendary endurance race.
