24h Le Mans
After losing pole position earlier in the evening due to a penalty, the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA crew made sure they left no shadow of doubt over its potential.
Sébastien Bourdais fired the V-Series.R to the top of the timesheets with a 3:26.843 – the only car to dip below the 3:27 mark. The American outfit means business following their demotion from pole earlier in the evening.
The shortest session of the week also served as the final dress rehearsal before the big one – the 94th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was the last opportunity for all 62 teams to finalise their set-ups and maximise valuable track time before the race.
Run under the cloak of darkness, the short, sharp Free Practice 4 session lasted just one hour and came hot on the heels of a dramatic Hyperpole.
Hypercar
The #7 Toyota, in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi, led the way for much of the session ahead of the #35 Alpine and the yellow #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, before the #20 BMW and then the #38 Cadillac climbed to the top of the standings.
After an early exit for both Japanese cars in Hyperpole 1, Toyota can be pleased with its evening's work and, for many, remains a dark horse heading into Sunday's race. Despite having gone four years without a victory at Le Mans, Toyota's wealth of experience should help propel the team into the fight at the front.
It is fascinating to see the variety of manufacturers showing strong one-lap pace. Can Cadillac convert that speed into a race-winning challenge? The same can be said for Alpine. On its last dance at Le Mans with the A424 Hypercar, the French manufacturer would dearly love to triumph in front of its home fans.
BMW looked strong too, with two cars in the hunt for victory. The German marque will start the 94th edition of the race from pole position with the #15 machine, despite finishing the night down in 15th place.
Top 5 from Free Practice 4
1. Cadillac V-Series.R #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Sébastien Bourdais / Earl Bamber / Jack Aitken – 3’26’’843
2. BMW M Hybrid V8 #20 BMW M Team WRT – Robin Frijns / Rene Rast / Sheldon van der Linde – 3’27’’037
3. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Mike Conway / Kamui Kobayashi / Nyck de Vries – 3’27’’146
4. Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Louis Delétraz / Will Stevens / Norman Nato – 3’27’’282
5. Alpine A424 #35 Alpine Endurance Team – António Félix Da Costa / Charles Milesi / Ferdinand Habsburg – 3’27’’335
Les meilleurs chronos des autres catégories :
>>> Full Results from FP4 <<<
In the flame-spitting single-make category, AF Corse will be pleased with its night's work as it ends Thursday with the fastest LMP2 time under the lights, ahead of the #30 Duqueine Team entry in second and the #37 CLX Motorsport car in third. The trio were covered by less than a second.
TF Sport put the Corvette at the top of the timesheets, making it a perfect evening for the General Motors brands at Le Mans.
It was a Corvette one-two, with the sister Racing Team Turkey by TF entry finishing second, ahead of the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin in third and the #13 AWA Corvette in fourth.
Tomorrow brings the Road to Le Mans race, as well as plenty for fans to enjoy away from the circuit, including the Fan Village, Open Track Walk and the Drivers' Parade through the centre of Le Mans.
The next time we see the 24 Hours of Le Mans crews on track will be on Saturday for a brief 15-minute warm-up at 12:00 local time, before the race gets underway at 16:00.
