The Ferrari – AF Corse team’s 499Ps will start from the second row at the 92nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, thanks to the times set by Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Fuoco in the Hyperpole session this evening at the historic French track. This event, the fourth act of the FIA WEC, will kick off on Saturday 15 June at 4 p.m. (local time).
The session took place under dry track conditions, allowing both Prancing Horse cars to run on Medium tyres. The best lap times were recorded on lap eight for the 499P number 51, clocking in at 3’25”156, and on lap three for the “sister” Le Mans Hypercar number 50, with a time of 3’25”598.
The session, restricted to the best eight cars from the three classes participating in the 24 Hours, based on the Qualifying results, was interrupted by a red flag following an off-track incident at the Indianapolis corner with seven minutes and 41 seconds remaining. At that point, the Ferraris were in second and third place, driven by Fuoco and Pier Guidi.
At the restart, in the last phase of the Hyperpole, Pier Guidi improved his time by over nine-tenths on the second flying lap, while Fuoco, who only had one flying lap available, could not lower his time. At the chequered flag, the two Ferraris were fourth and fifth, respectively. However, a penalty imposed on the Cadillac number 2 (five grid positions) after the previous round at Spa allowed the Maranello manufacturer’s Hypercars to move up to the second row.
The AF Corse team’s 499P number 83, driven by official Ferrari drivers Yifei Ye and Robert Shwartzman, along with Robert Kubica, will start 12th on the grid.