The Penske-run factory Porsche team denied Cadillac a first-ever Le Mans 24 Hours pole in a thoroughly entertaining all-LMDh scrap headlining the Thursday Hyperpole session.
The 35-year-old Kevin Estre, qualifying the World Endurance Championship-leading #6 Porsche Penske entry, pulled out a 3m24.634s at the very last moment to grab the German brand's first Le Mans pole since 2016.
The Porsche 963 is widely regarded as a leading contender for Le Mans victory this year, but only one 963 was running in the Hyperpole session - Estre making the cut by two tenths in the initial qualifying earlier this week, in which he very nearly shunted with an LMP2 car.
That was a bit close for comfort 😰
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) June 12, 2024
Porsche Penske #6 avoids crashing into Iron Lynx #63 but goes off track in a cloud of smoke!#WEC #LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/qJgFJZI6eT
And Estre was only fifth, over 1.6s down on provisional pole held by #3 Cadillac driver Sebastien Bourdais, when the red flag came out for a crash for BMW's Dries Vanthoor at Indianapolis corner.
#15 BMW Motorsport goes off at Indianapolis.
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) June 13, 2024
Session is red flagged with just 7:41 to go.#WEC #LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/DlsLoDh3IC
Bourdais didn't head out for another run, and looked in a strong position to hang on to pole as both Ferrari cars came up short in their efforts.
But the other Cadillac - the #2 in Alex Lynn's hands - pipped him by three hundredths after the chequered flag, only for Estre to go another tenth and a half clear moments later.
Because of a grid penalty for the #2 after the previous WEC round at Spa (where its driver Earl Bamber was deemed at fault for colliding with a BMW GT3 car), the #6 Porsche and the #3 Cadillac will share the front row for the 24-hour race, followed by the two Ferraris (the leading cars designed to Hypercar rules rather than LMDh rules) and the #35 Alpine.
Only seven top-class cars ran in Hyperpole instead of the intended eight (and thus 23 out of 24 overall) as Jota's customer Porsche 963s was damaged in a heavy crash in practice after having already made Hyperpole - and could not be repaired in time to actually take part.
Long-time Le Mans dominator Toyota also had one of its cars set a time good enough for Hyperpole but not take part - as Kamui Kobayashi's effort in that initial session was erased for him having caused a red flag.
🔴RED FLAG🔴
— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) June 12, 2024
The @TGR_WEC #7 goes off and... puts an end to the session.#LeMans24 #WEC pic.twitter.com/ZLiwj2oCJh
The fastest laps in LMP2 and LMGT3 were set by reigning WEC LMP2 champion Louis Deletraz and former Oculus VR company CEO Brendan Iribe (for LMGT3, only Bronze-category drivers are allowed to run in Hyperpole).
Hyperpole had been delayed by over half an hour for a crash in a Road to Le Mans support race, one involving ex-grand prix motorcycle racer Louis Rossi - whose sole Moto3 win came at Le Mans.
