Cadillac Racing completes historic front-row lockout for 24 Hours of Le Mans
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
A pair of golden Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars will pace the field to the flying start of Saturday’s 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Alex Lynn, driving the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, recorded lap of 3 minutes, 23.166 seconds in the 15-minute Hyperpole2 session to claim Cadillac’s second pole position in three FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) seasons. It will be the first time for Cadillac to lead the field to the green flag. Photo courtesy of Cadillac Racing.
Cadillac Racing completed an historic American, two-car/front-row lockout during Thursday’s Hyperpole qualifying session at the Circuit de la Sarthe in France. For the first time since a Ford GT40 Mk IV qualified first in 1967, an American automaker earned pole position for the world’s greatest endurance race. It’s also the first time a Cadillac will lead the field to the green flag at Du Mans.
Alex Lynn drove the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R to a career-defining lap of 3-minutes, 23.166-seconds around the 8.467-mile/13.626-kilometer circuit during the 15-minute Hyperpole2 session to claim P1. Lynn secured Cadillac’s second pole in three FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) seasons.
Celebration in the Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA garages grew exponentially seconds later when Earl Bamber, driving the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, secured second on the time chart with a lap of 3:23.333 to complete the front-row lockout.
“Pole position here at Le Mans and an incredible front-row lockout for the team,” said Lynn, a 31-year-old native of Great Britain. “It doesn’t get much better than that. I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to everyone at Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA for giving me the car to do that. It’s been a lifelong goal of mine to be on the pole at Le Mans; it’s such an honor.”
Recall that Lynn qualified second with Cadillac Racing at Le Mans in 2024 and teamed with native New Zealander Bamber and Richard Westbrook of Great Britain to earn a podium in Cadillac’s first race back at Circuit de la Sarthe in 2023 after a 21-year absence.
“I think every time you have the opportunity to drive this kind of car around Le Mans with low fuel and new tires, it’s an honor,” Lynn said. “I’m truly honored to be able to put in a performance like that in front of everyone and deliver the car to Cadillac how they deserve _ in the first position. It’s a special feeling. I can’t describe it. It’s such a magical circuit, a wonderful place and a place where I really try to perform my best. We’ll enjoy this tonight, have a good sleep and re-set.”
Frenchman Norman Nato and Englishman Will Stevens, who drove in Hyperpole1, will share time in the No. 12 Cadillac this weekend.
“Honestly, that’s amazing for us as car No. 12, amazing for Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA and amazing for GM,” said Stevens, 33. “We’ve worked so hard since we got this car and we’ve worked really hard all week. We’ve made some good decisions and I’m so proud of everyone in this program, not only to get pole but to have the 1-2 is something really special.
“Obviously, the qualifying format here is pretty tricky as you need to prep two drivers, but we knew we could do the job. Alex is our main qualifier so we wanted to make sure that he did Hyperpole2, but this then put the pressure on me to make sure that we got through Hyperpole1. I had traffic from one of the Ferraris so it was very close but we got it done and what a place to start a 24-hour race from. The hard work really starts now; it’s a long road ahead but after today we’re pretty confident. Let’s keep pushing for the win on Sunday.”
A Cadillac Racing entry has been either first or second on the time sheet in each of the three free practice sessions this week _ qualifying practice on Wednesday night followed by Hyperpole1 and Hyperpole2 Thursday to set the respective class fields.
“Honestly, I’m really pleased with all of the work done by the team,” said Nato, 32. “All of the credit goes to them. As a driver, even when you have one of the best packages, it’s never easy to do that kind of lap. Especially in WEC right now with the caliber of drivers that we have, the level is at the top. In the end, as drivers, we have the easy part. We complain about everything until the setup is exactly the way we want it and that’s why all the credit goes to the whole team, everyone who brought us this package and this opportunity. They have all worked so hard.
“Of course, we’re going to focus now as much as possible for the race ahead but first we need to take a minute to enjoy this very special moment. A front-row lockout at Le Mans is something to savor.”
John Roth, global vice president of Cadillac, extended his congratulations to the No. 12 Cadillac crew and added, “We are excited to get back on the track and compete for the overall win this weekend.”
Bamber, Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais _ who drove in Hyperpole1 _ and Jenson Button of Great Britain are sharing the No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R. The No. 12 entry finished fifth and the No. 38 car placed sixth in the most recent WEC race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
“We were close on-pole last year,” said Bamber, 34, whose resume features stints as a factory driver for Corvette Racing and Porsche Motorsport. “As a manufacturer to lockout the front row for the biggest race in the world for us is something pretty special. You don’t get that every day. Big congrats to Alex and the No. 12 car. It’s going to be nice to sit alongside him Saturday and take the start with Cadillac.”
Bourdais, a 46-year-old Le Mans native making his 18th start in this event, easily eclipsed his pre-qualifying game plan. “The goal was to get into the top-10, so I was really happy with the first lap,” said Bourdais, the Champ Car World Series champion in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. “I didn’t overdrive too much. Really happy for the No. 12 car guys and Earl did a great job in Hyperpole2 to get P2. Looking forward to the race.”
The No. 5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 qualified third with Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet in the cockpit, besting the No. 15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 driven by Dries Vanthoor of Belgium. Nick Tandy of Great Britain and Brazilian Felipe Nasr’s quest for an unprecedented Triple Crown of endurance racing will start from fifth-place in their No. 4 Penske Porsche.
Italian ace Antonio Fuoco’s best lap in H2 landed the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P in seventh _ a disappointing start for the reigning overall Le Mans winner. Indeed, pre-race favorites Ferrari and Toyota struggled in qualifying, with the best Toyota Gazoo Racing entry in 10th. Ferrari is chasing its third consecutive overall Le Mans win while Toyota _ Le Mans champion from 2018 to 2022 _ is aiming to add its sixth overall victory.
All four Cadillac Hypercars qualified for Hyperpole1 _ a new qualifying format for 2025 in which 15 cars advanced from the 30-minute qualifying practice. The No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, with Jack Aitken behind the wheel, topped the lap time chart in the 20-minute session of 15 cars with a blistering 3:22.742 _ the lone sub-3:23 lap in either session.
“It was a really fun lap. The Cadillac felt incredible,” said Aitken, a 29-year-old native of London. “It was just giving more and more. The second lap, I saw the speed was there and I just started to throw everything at the track, and it ended up being quite a good one. It’s always fun to drive these cars on low fuel, and to do it on the biggest and baddest circuit here is really fun.”
In accordance with rules issued by the sanctioning Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), Aitken gave way to Felipe Drugovich for the next round and the Action Express Racing driver qualified eighth with a lap of 3:24.380.
“It was actually my first proper try on new tires, and I didn’t even do a qually sim before,” said Drugovich, a 25-year-old native of Brazil. “I would rather be a bit slower than actually making a mistake. So, I just went with a mentality and got a safe lap. Probably too safe. I could have pushed a lot more, but it’s the first time for me. It’s a very happy day for the team, for the GM family and Cadillac.”
The No. 101 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R used Hyperpole1 to run in race trim, testing ride height and other areas, after the crew and Cadillac engineers changed the 5.5-liter DOHC V8 engine out of precaution during the afternoon free practice. The first-time Le Mans entrants will start 14th in the 21-car Hypercar field.
“What an amazing team day,” said Ricky Taylor, 35, who is sharing the No. 101 Cadillac with brother/Florida native Jordan Taylor and endurance veteran Filipe Albuquerque of Portugal. “I have never seen a team change an engine during a practice session before. That might be a world record. I’m just so proud of Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing, coming to Le Mans for the first time and really proving that the guys mean business and they’re here to compete and to win.
“Because we missed the practice session today, we treated qualifying a bit as a proving of the car to make sure we had stuff ready for the race. We just have night practice left now and the car needs to be ready to go. I did my best. I think we had the sectors to advance but unfortunately, I made a little mistake on the last lap. Otherwise, I thought we had enough to be into Hyperpole2. That would have been a dream. However, now we can just relax and think about our race. It’s a long one so starting P14 isn’t the end of the world.”
For the record, in 1967 Ford Motor Company’s Ford GT40 Mk IV claimed pole position at Le Mans with Italian-born/American icon Mario Andretti and Denny Hulme of New Zealand setting a lap time of 3:23.6.
Focus throughout the paddock now turns to the start of the race on Saturday, with Cadillac aiming to become the first American automaker to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans since Ford in 1969. Jacky Ickx of Belgium and Jackie Oliver of Great Britian drove a blue-and-orange liveried No. 6 Gulf Ford GT40 to victory after completing 372 laps during the twice-around-the-clock classic on June 14-15, 1969.
The No. 101 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R driven by Albuquerque and Jordan and Ricky Taylor, and the No. 311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Aitken, Drugovich and Frederik Vesti of Denmark are full-season IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors.
While the Wayne Taylor Racing entry is making its Le Mans debut, all three drivers and team-owner Wayne Taylor have competed multiple times in the event. Jordan Taylor celebrated a GTE Pro class win at Le Mans for the factory Corvette Racing team 10 years ago. Wayne Taylor last competed at Le Mans in 2002 in the final year of Cadillac’s Northstar LMP project.
Hyperpole in LMP2 saw veteran Mathias Beche of Switzerland earn pole in the No. 29 TDS Racing ORECA 07-Gibson, the Pro/Am car he shares with American-Mexican businessman Rodrigo Sales and Clement Novalak of France.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. (EDT) on Saturday, June 14. MotorTrend will televise the full race live in the United States, with full live streaming coverage of all on-track sessions _ including qualifying and Hyperpole _ available via the MAX app in the USA and the FIA WEC app internationally. Radio Le Mans also will provide live streaming audio coverage of all sessions.
TF Sport’s Charlie Eastwood and Rui Andrade teamed to qualify the No. 81 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R on the third row of a stacked LMGT3 field for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In Thursday’s two-phase Hyperpole session, Eastwood advanced the TF Corvette out of the 12-car field with the second-fastest time of Hyperpole1 _ 3-minutes, 54.646-seconds _ followed by Andrade’s career-best GT lap at Le Mans in the eight-car Hyperpole2, a 3:55.740 on his final lap to stay on the third row.
Mattia Drudi delivered pole position for the Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 with a course record for the category, putting the Italian at the front of the GT pack with British-American owner/driver Ian James and Zacharie Robichon of Canada.
The results position the No. 81 Corvette among the lead pack at the start of Saturday’s race, which features a massive field of 24 GT3 cars representing nine manufacturers. Eastwood and Andrade, who is of Angolan-Portuguese descent, got the chance in Hyperpole after teammate Tom Van Rompuy of Belgium advanced from Wednesday’s initial qualifying session in fifth place.
“Clearly, the top couple of cars are super-fast, but we haven’t been the sixth-fastest cars since we’ve been here all week,” said Eastwood, a 29-year-old GM factory driver from Belfast, Northern Ireland. “So again, I think all three of us did a really good job. Tom yesterday to get us in and continue on and then Rui had a really good last lap there. In the mix for sure. We’re not the fastest but definitely not the slowest. We can definitely fight from there.
“The Corvette and the team have been super-faultless. We’ve been tuning the car more and more to a really good place. As we have in the last couple of races, we have executed really well up to now. We just need to make sure we continue to execute this weekend as well.”
With Thursday’s results, all three Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs know their starting positions. AWA’s No. 13 Corvette of native Californian Matt Bell, Orey Fidani of Canada and Lars Kern of Germany will roll off 20th in class for the team’s Le Mans debut after winning the IMSA Bob Akin Award during the 2024 season.
TF Sport’s No. 33 Corvette _ driven by LMGT3 championship leaders Daniel Juncadella of Spain, Jonny Edgar of Great Britain and Ben Keating _ will start 23rd in class. A 53-year-old native of Tomball, Texas, Keating is the owner of 30 auto dealerships across Texas under the banner of The Keating Auto Group based in Victoria.
The TF Sport squad is aiming for its third class win at Le Mans, while the Corvette Racing program is chasing its 10th class victory in this event since 2001.
