Bmw inherits pole position for Le Mans after Cadillac penalty

It is absolutely wild. Just five thousandths of a second separated Jack Aitken and Dries Vanthoor in the frenetic Hyperpole 2 shootout, but the story of the day at the Circuit de la Sarthe took a massive turn in the stewards' office. Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA saw their #38 Cadillac V-Series.R stripped of its best lap time because Aitken left the working lane before being authorized to do so. That penalty dropped them to 10th and handed pole to the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8.

It is a stunning result for BMW M Team WRT, though Dries Vanthoor remains focused on the bigger picture. "Our goal is to win the race so we need to keep it clean over the weekend," he noted after the session. He will be joined by teammates Kevin Magnussen and Raffaele Marciello as they start from the front of the grid.

While Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA lost the top spot, Will Stevens managed to secure second, and the Alpine Endurance Team A424 of António Félix da Costa and Charles Milesi lines up third. It was a rough outing for some of the heavyweights, with the Toyota entries left back in 14th and 15th, and the best Ferrari—the #51 499P—only managing eighth. Meanwhile, Genesis Magma Racing turned heads with a phenomenal effort to qualify sixth and ninth.