Track action for the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans began on Sunday, 7 June, as the 62-car field took to the Circuit de la Sarthe for the first Free Practice session of Test Day.
After two days of Scrutineering in the Le Mans city centre, teams began their first official running on the full 13.626km circuit. The session gave Hypercar, LMP2 and LMGT3 competitors an important opportunity to collect data, complete mileage and prepare for the rest of race week.
Filipe Albuquerque set the fastest time in the #101 Cadillac WTR Cadillac V-Series.R, recording a 3:27.011. The lap placed the car 0.328s ahead of the #35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424, while the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry completed the top three.
First track running begins at Le Mans
At 10:00 local time, the first Free Practice session of Test Day began, marking the first official running for the 2026 field at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Philipp Eng led the cars out of the pit lane in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8. From there, teams worked through early programmes focused on track familiarisation, set-up evaluation, tyre behaviour and traffic management.
Test Day is a particularly important part of the Le Mans schedule because the full circuit is used only once a year. As a result, drivers and teams must use the available running to reacquaint themselves with braking points, kerbs, surface changes and reference markers before the competitive sessions later in the week.
Cadillac sets the early benchmark
Cadillac led the opening Free Practice session, with two cars finishing inside the top three.
Will Stevens had earlier placed the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R at the front with a 3:27.843. However, after a late restart, Albuquerque improved to a 3:27.011 in the #101 Cadillac WTR entry.
Charles Milesi moved the #35 Alpine A424 into second with a 3:27.339, placing Alpine between the two Cadillacs. The result gave both Cadillac and Alpine a strong start to Test Day, although the session remained primarily focused on preparation rather than outright performance.
Hypercar field shows close early running
The Hypercar order included several manufacturers near the front.
The #009 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie finished fourth with a 3:28.086, ahead of the #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P in fifth. Toyota placed sixth and seventh with the #8 and #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrids respectively, while BMW followed in eighth and ninth with its two M Hybrid V8s. The #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie completed the top ten.
Genesis also completed its first official Le Mans running. The #17 Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001-Hypercar finished 11th with a 3:28.738, while the #19 car ended the session 18th.
Peugeot completed the session in 15th and 16th with the #93 and #94 9X8s.
Late incident interrupts the session
The session was interrupted late on after contact between the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid and the #25 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA 07-Gibson near the Goodyear Chicane.
Both drivers were unharmed, but the incident brought out the red flag with less than 30 minutes remaining. The session resumed with 14 minutes left, allowing several cars to improve their times before the chequered flag.
Race control also used the session for Full Course Yellow and Safety Car procedure practice, giving teams, drivers and marshals additional preparation ahead of race week.
AF Corse leads LMP2
AF Corse set the fastest LMP2 time with the #183 ORECA 07-Gibson. Matthieu Vaxiviere recorded a 3:35.526, placing the car 19th overall and first in class.
The #43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA 07-Gibson finished second in LMP2 with a 3:35.992, while the #4 CrowdStrike Racing by APR entry completed the top three in class with a 3:36.283.
Vista AF Corse fastest in LMGT3
Vista AF Corse led LMGT3 with the #21 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo. Alessio Rovera set a 3:57.366, narrowly ahead of the #59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3.
The #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3 completed the top three in class with a 3:57.421. The gaps remained close throughout LMGT3, with the first 10 cars in the category covered by less than one second.
Track limits noted in official classification
The official classification noted that several cars had lap times deleted for track limits. It also listed pit lane speeding-related deletions for the #9 Proton Competition LMP2 and the #3 DKR Engineering LMP2.
The session took place in dry conditions, with a track temperature of 38.6°C and an air temperature of 18.6°C.
Top five classification
- #101 Cadillac WTR Cadillac V-Series.R — Ricky Taylor / Jordan Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque — 3:27.011
- #35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424 — António Félix da Costa / Charles Milesi / Ferdinand Habsburg — 3:27.339
- #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R — Louis Delétraz / Will Stevens / Norman Nato — 3:27.843
- #009 Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie — Alex Riberas / Marco Sørensen / Roman De Angelis — 3:28.086
- #50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P — Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina — 3:28.291
Fastest in class
- Hypercar: #101 Cadillac WTR Cadillac V-Series.R — 3:27.011
- LMP2: #183 AF Corse ORECA 07-Gibson — 3:35.526
- LMGT3: #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo — 3:57.366
Test Day continues
The second Free Practice session of Test Day is scheduled to begin at 15:30 local time.
The opening session gave teams their first official running of the week on the full Circuit de la Sarthe. Cadillac led the timing sheets, while Alpine, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Toyota and BMW also featured inside the top ten. However, with teams following different programmes, the first session mainly provided an initial reference point rather than a complete competitive picture.
See the full schedule for the 2026 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and you can get live updates on race day from our blog.
