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Toyota Gazoo Racing fired the opening shot ahead of next weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, topping the timesheets in Sunday’s official test day. In a tight Hypercar field, the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID, driven by Brendon Hartley, set the fastest lap of 3m26.246s during the second of the two three-hour sessions on the full Circuit de la Sarthe.
That effort gave Toyota a slim half-second margin over Ferrari’s best, with James Calado clocking a 3m26.777s in the factory-entered 499P LMH. Robert Kubica, piloting the customer 499P for AF Corse, placed third overall with a 3m26.902s, trimming a tenth off his earlier morning benchmark.
Alpine impressed in fourth, with Mick Schumacher pushing the #36 A424 LMDh up the order late in the afternoon. His 3m27.313s just edged Porsche’s Kevin Estre, who ended fifth in the fastest of the factory 963 LMDh entries.
Nick Tandy followed in sixth with a 3m27.489s in the additional Porsche Penske entry, narrowly ahead of Miguel Molina’s 3m27.516s in the #50 Ferrari.
BMW’s Robin Frijns slotted into eighth in the #20 M Hybrid V8, but his session ended early when the WRT-run car was halted due to an oil leak. Cadillac’s Alex Lynn put the #12 V-Series.R ninth for Jota, while Charles Milesi completed the top ten in the second Alpine.
Aston Martin’s new Valkyrie LMH, fielded by The Heart of Racing, placed 18th with Tom Gamble at the wheel, while Peugeot’s troubled 9X8 struggled to escape the back, ending 19th and 21st in the afternoon.
In LMP2, Pietro Fittipaldi delivered for United Autosports with a 3m35.770s in the #22 ORECA-Gibson 07, four tenths ahead of Mathias Beche’s TDS Racing entry.
The LMGT3 class was topped by Jose Maria Lopez in the #87 Lexus RC F GT3. Running for French outfit Auto Sport Promotion, his 3m55.276s afternoon time gave him a commanding 1.5s gap over Alessio Rovera’s AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.
The 2025 Le Mans weekend continues with Free Practice 1 on Wednesday at 14:00 local time, followed by Qualifying at 18:45. The stage is now set for what promises to be a fierce contest in all classes.
