Defending race-winner knocked out in qualifying at Le Mans
It is absolutely wild to see the defending race-winners fall at the first hurdle, but that is exactly what happened to the #83 AF Corse Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After a difficult start to the event following a crash for Yifei Ye, Phil Hanson couldn't find the necessary pace, finishing a disappointing 17th. Watching him push hard enough to mow the grass at the Forest Esses was a testament to the desperation, but it wasn't enough to secure a spot in the Hyperpole shootout.
While the Ferrari struggled, the battle at the front was razor-thin. Alpine’s Ferdinand Habsburg claimed the top spot, but with a margin of just 0.013 seconds over Cadillac’s Louis Delétraz, the field is clearly tighter than ever. Seeing the top five cars blanketed by less than a tenth-of-a-second proves this machine-versus-machine fight is going to be something special.
Elsewhere, the LMGT3 category saw a massive swing when the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette was disqualified due to a rear diffuser strake height violation. It opened the door for debutants Eric Powell and Gray Newell to take the top spots. Meanwhile, the #92 Manthey Porsche managed to sneak into Hyperpole, but it was a disaster for the #33 TF Sport Corvette, with Ben Keating missing the cut in 17th.
