Aston Martin ended Test Day at the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans on top, as Harry Tincknell set the fastest time of the second Free Practice session at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
After Cadillac led the opening three-hour session on Sunday morning, teams returned to the 13.626km circuit at 15:30 local time for another important block of running. The second Free Practice session gave the 62-car field a further opportunity to continue set-up work, assess tyre behaviour, complete mileage and build confidence before the official race week sessions begin on Wednesday.
Tincknell placed the #007 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie at the head of the order with a 3:26.293. The lap made the Aston Martin the fastest car of Test Day and put the British manufacturer ahead of Toyota, Cadillac and Alpine.
Test Day continues in afternoon conditions
The second Free Practice session began in warm afternoon conditions, with all three classes returning to the circuit after the morning’s first reference runs.
At this stage of the week, outright lap time does not tell the full story. Teams use Test Day to work through different fuel loads, aerodynamic settings, tyre plans and driver programmes. However, the second session still provided a clearer sense of how the leading Hypercar teams were progressing after their first three hours of running.
The morning benchmark, a 3:27.011 set by Filipe Albuquerque in the #101 Cadillac WTR V-Series.R, did not last long. Early in the session, Alpine lowered the target as Charles Milesi continued the strong form he had shown in Free Practice 1.
The #35 Alpine A424 became the first car of the week to move into the 3:26s, with Milesi setting a 3:26.990 in the opening stages. Cadillac then responded through the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry, which moved ahead with a 3:26.853 near the end of the first hour.
Tincknell puts Aston Martin ahead
Aston Martin then moved to the top during the second hour.
After a brief Full Course Yellow period to clear debris from the circuit, Tincknell produced the fastest lap of the day in the #007 Valkyrie. His 3:26.293 placed Aston Martin at the head of the field and gave the V12-powered Hypercar a strong conclusion to its first Test Day of the week.
The lap also continued Aston Martin’s encouraging start to Le Mans running. The #009 Valkyrie had finished fourth in the morning session, while the #007 car completed Free Practice 1 inside the top ten. In the afternoon, the #007 moved the programme to the top of the overall classification.
Toyota also improved after a difficult end to the morning. The #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, which had been involved in contact with the #25 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA 07-Gibson in Free Practice 1, returned to the front group in the afternoon. Brendon Hartley set a 3:26.401 to finish second, only 0.108s behind Tincknell.
The #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry finished third on a 3:26.853, while Alpine completed the top five with the #35 A424 in fourth and the #36 A424 in fifth.
Ferrari keeps a lower profile
Ferrari did not feature in the top five in Free Practice 2, despite entering Le Mans as the defending winner and the manufacturer chasing a fourth consecutive overall victory.
The Italian manufacturer’s early Test Day did not suggest a clear performance picture. As usual at Le Mans, teams may choose to prioritise race preparation, long runs, systems checks and set-up validation over headline lap times during the opening day of running.
However, the attention around Ferrari remained high. The #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P returned to Le Mans as the defending race-winning entry, after becoming the first privateer team in 19 years to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall.
Ferrari’s Test Day pace may not have put it at the top of the order, but the 499P remains one of the central cars to watch once official practice and Qualifying begin.
Genesis continues first Le Mans preparations
Genesis Magma Racing continued its first official Le Mans running with the GMR-001-Hypercar.
The South Korean manufacturer made its on-track debut at the Circuit de la Sarthe earlier in the day, with its orange Hypercars attracting significant attention during the morning session. In the afternoon, the team continued its acclimatisation process and found further performance.
For a new manufacturer, Test Day carries particular value. Genesis must build mileage, study the circuit, understand traffic and refine reliability while competing against manufacturers with far more Le Mans experience.
Although headline times matter less for a debutant programme, the team’s progress across the day gave it a useful foundation before race week continues.
IDEC Sport leads LMP2
In LMP2, IDEC Sport finished the second Free Practice session at the top of the class.
The #28 ORECA 07-Gibson moved ahead late in the session with a 3:35.344. That lap placed Paul Lafargue, Valerio Rinicella and Job van Uitert ahead of the #14 TDS Racing entry and the #183 AF Corse car, which had led the LMP2 order in the morning.
AF Corse had spent much of the session near the front after showing strong pace in Free Practice 1. However, IDEC Sport’s late improvement gave the French team the class benchmark by the chequered flag.
Forestier Racing by Panis also showed competitive pace and ended the session inside the leading group, while Duqueine Team placed well with its #30 ORECA 07-Gibson.
The session included a brief Full Course Yellow early in the second hour after the #44 Proton Competition ORECA visited the gravel. The car avoided major damage and returned to running.
Vista AF Corse heads LMGT3 again
Vista AF Corse continued its strong Test Day in LMGT3.
After the #21 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo topped the category in the morning, the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari led the second session with a 3:56.646. Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Davide Rigon therefore gave the team another class-leading result during Sunday running.
The margin remained small. The #91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 finished only 0.010s behind, while the #33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R completed the top three.
BMW had shown early pace through Team WRT, with Sean Gelael moving the M4 LMGT3 Evo to the front in the opening stages. However, as the session developed, Ferrari, Porsche and Corvette emerged at the head of the timing screens.
The LMGT3 field also reached an important collective milestone in Free Practice 2, with all 62 cars on the full Le Mans entry list recording lap times below the four-minute mark during the day’s running.
Top five classification
- #007 Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie — Harry Tincknell / Tom Gamble / Ross Gunn — 3:26.293
- #8 Toyota Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid — Sébastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa — 3:26.401
- #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R — Louis Delétraz / Will Stevens / Norman Nato — 3:26.853
- #35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424 — António Félix da Costa / Charles Milesi / Ferdinand Habsburg — 3:26.938
- #36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424 — Frédéric Makowiecki / Jules Gounon / Victor Martins — 3:27.017
Fastest in class
- Hypercar: #007 Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie — 3:26.293
- LMP2: #28 IDEC Sport ORECA 07-Gibson — 3:35.344
- LMGT3: #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo — 3:56.646
2026 Le Mans race week resumes on Wednesday
The conclusion of Test Day brings the first on-track phase of the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans to a close.
Across six hours of running, teams completed mileage, gathered data and began adapting to the specific demands of the Circuit de la Sarthe. Cadillac led the morning session, while Aston Martin set the overall pace in the afternoon. Toyota recovered strongly with the #8 car, Alpine placed both entries inside the top five in Free Practice 2, and Ferrari remained less prominent on the timing screens.
The field will return to the circuit on Wednesday, 10 June, for Free Practice 1 in the afternoon and Free Practice 2 in the evening. The night running will give drivers another important opportunity to adjust to Le Mans conditions before Qualifying and the later race week sessions.
Test Day has provided the first indications, but not the full competitive order. At Le Mans, that will only become clearer as the week develops.
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.
