Aston Martin leads the charge at Le Mans test day
Aston Martin has well and truly signaled their intent. During the official pre-event test at the Circuit de la Sarthe, the #007 Valkyrie set the pace with a blistering 3m26.293s lap. Tom Gamble was the man behind the wheel, putting the machine at the top of the board just over an hour into the afternoon session. It is a stunning display of progress from the second-season Valkyrie, proving that the team has found serious speed ahead of the 94th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Following just over a tenth-of-a-second behind was Brendon Hartley in the #8 TOYOTA RACING entry. The Toyota camp had a morning to forget, requiring significant repairs to their TR010 Hybrid after Ryō Hirakawa tangled with Jake Hughes at the Goodyear Chicane, but they recovered to keep the pressure on. The top five were rounded out by the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, the #35 Alpine Endurance Team A424, and Cadillac WTR.
What makes this result truly beautiful is the parity. All eight manufacturers in the Hypercar class were covered by under a second, setting us up for an incredibly tight contest. Further down the order, the #19 Genesis made a strong impression, and the #17 GMR-001 gave Jamie Chadwick her first taste of Hypercar machinery at this legendary circuit. In LMGT3, VISTA AF Corse asserted dominance with their Ferraris, while Job van Uitert paced the LMP2 field in the #28 IDEC Sport prototype.
