Cadillac fastest after Le Mans 24 Hours free practice 1

Cadillac sat as the fastest squad during the first practice session of Free Practice 1 at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Feature image credit: Toyota Racing

Cadillac took top honours in the first practice session of the Le Mans weekend with the #38 – driven by Earl Bamber. The leading Cadillac popped in time of 3 minutes and 23.786 seconds, across the iconic Circuit de la Sarthe circuit, which was a second and a half faster than the second-placed Cadillac WTR squad.

They were joined by the #20 BMW, which rounded out the top three with a time that was 1.7 seconds slower.

Doriane Pin, of Duqueine Team, topped the timing boards for the LMP2 class. The 2025 F1 Academy champion put in a lap time of 3 minutes and 35.248 seconds, 0.7 seconds faster than the #14 TDS Racing and #28 IDEC Sport LMP2s, who finished second and third, respectively.

Lexus put in a dominant performance across the three hours of practice, going top of the timing boards and never losing its place. The #78 Lexus of Akkodis ASP took a best time of 3 minutes and 55.737 seconds, with only 29 laps completed.

It was the only class that had a tight margin with the rest of its class as the Team WRT BMWs of #32 and #69 finished second and third, with just over a tenth separating the two cars from the leading pace.

Weather forecast: the latest ahead of WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans

The action for the legendary race officially kicked off on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of the first round of qualifying sessions, as the three-hour opening practice session allowed the teams and drivers to hone in on their preparations for the toughest endurance race of the World Endurance Championship.

It wasn’t without issue though, as the session was quickly prompted with a slow zone after the #37 LMP2 of . The LMP2 car found itself stuck in the gravel ahead of the Mulsanne Straight, which was soon upgraded to the first Full Course Yellow.

30 minutes later, the session was under FCY conditions again to allow marshals to remove debris from the circuit in the later sections, building up to the pit straight.

From there, it was mostly business-as-usual, allowing the teams and drivers to complete many laps around the iconic circuit.

24 Hours of Le Mans: the full WEC schedule and times

In the last hour of practice, the session suffered problems again.

The defending Le Mans champions, in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari Hypercar, were held stationary for five minutes after exceeding track limits. Something the #7 Toyota was also warned off late on.

However, the biggest incident came with less than 20 minutes left on the clock, as the #83 returned to the circuit with Yefei Ye behind the wheel. On their run through the Mulsanne Straight, the Ferrari couldn’t slow down its car in time and was forced to take evasive action before colliding with another competitor.

Ye’s reaction sent the #83 Ferrari onto a brief gravel trap, sending it sideways, before they skipped across the returning asphalt and into the tyre barrier. With 15 minutes on the clock, the session was under FCY, and the #83 was able to limp back to the pits.

In the final moments of the session, the #36 Alpine – driven by Makowiecki – also smacked the barrier. On the run towards the Mulsanne Straight, the Alpine ran wide on the corner before and hit the barrier as it crossed onto the grass verge. As a result, the French car was forced to crab its way down the straight, looking for a place to park safely.

Embed from Getty Images

Hypercar –

1. Cadillac Herz Team Jota #38 – 3m 23.786s
2. Cadillac WTR #101 +1.562s
3. BMW W Team WRT #20 +1.747s

LMP2 –

1. Duqueine Team #30 – 3m 35.248s
2. TDS Racing #14 +0.710s
3. IDEC Sport #28 +0.941s

LMGT3 –

1. Akkodis ASP Team, Lexus #78 – 3m 55.737s
2. Team WRT, BMW #32 +0.1s
3. Team WRT, BMW #69 +0.101s

Read more World Endurance Championship content here:

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• Toyota take WEC win on Ferrari home turf at 6 Hours of Imola
• Toyota leads ahead of Ferrari at WEC 6 Hours of Imola
• Ferrari heads 6 Hours of Imola after opening hour
• 6 Hours of Imola: The latest weather forecast for WEC opener
• Schedule: WEC 2026 6 Hours of Imola

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.