Aston Martin Valkyrie tops Le Mans Test Day

Aston Martin sent an early warning shot to its Hypercar rivals ahead of next weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the second‑season Valkyrie setting the fastest time during the official Test Day for the 94th running of the French endurance classic.

All 62 entrants completed six hours of running around the Circuit de la Sarthe as teams fine‑tuned their preparations for the third round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship.

Gamble’s 3:26.293 sets the benchmark

Just over an hour into the afternoon session, Tom Gamble delivered the lap that would define the day. Behind the wheel of the #007 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie, the Briton clocked a 3m26.293s, more than half a second clear of the previous benchmark and ultimately unbeaten.

“It was a pretty successful and positive day overall,” Gamble said. “Coming to Le Mans, you never know where you’re going to be compared to everyone else, but the team did an amazing job preparing for the test. The #009 was already P4 this morning, so we’ve shown strong pace throughout.”

Gamble added that the Valkyrie feels “night and day compared to last year” as Aston Martin continues to refine its challenger for the biggest race of the season.

Toyota closes in despite early setback

Toyota Racing ended the day closest to the British manufacturer. Three‑time Le Mans winner Brendon Hartley brought the #8 TR010 Hybrid to within just over a tenth of a second, despite the car requiring repairs earlier in the day after Ryō Hirakawa clashed with LMP2 driver Jake Hughes at the Goodyear Chicane, triggering a red flag.

Cadillac, Alpine and BMW show strong pace

The top two finished half a second clear of last year’s pole‑sitting #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V‑Series.R. Will Stevens set the early pace before Norman Nato improved by almost a full second in the afternoon as Cadillac again showed strong form at La Sarthe.

Alpine also featured prominently. Charles Milesi briefly went second‑quickest in session one in the #35 A424, before Ferdinand Habsburg posted the car’s best time later in the day. IMSA regular Cadillac WTR completed the top five thanks to Filipe Albuquerque’s morning effort.

The remainder of the top ten featured the #36 Alpine (Victor Martins), Spa‑winning #20 BMW (Robin Frijns), the #51 Ferrari (Alessandro Pier Guidi), despite a light brush with the Indianapolis barriers, the #7 Toyota (Kamui Kobayashi) and an impressive showing from the #19 Genesis with Paul‑Loup Chatin.

Genesis’ #17 GMR‑001 also ran strongly, with ‘Pipo’ Derani placing 11th as Jamie Chadwick completed her first Hypercar laps at Le Mans.

Hypercar field covered by under one second

Remarkably, all eight Hypercar manufacturers were covered by less than a second, a tantalising preview of what could be one of the most competitive editions of the 24 Hours in the modern era.

Ferrari leads LMGT3, IDEC Sport fastest in LMP2. In LMGT3, VISTA AF Corse topped both sessions. Alessio Rovera set the morning pace in the #21 Ferrari 296 before Francesco Castellacci edged ahead in the #54 entry by just nine thousandths of a second. Timur Boguslavskiy placed the #91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche second, with Jonny Edgar close behind in the #33 TF Sport Corvette.

LMP2 honours went to Job van Uitert in the #28 IDEC Sport ORECA, 0.175s clear of 2025 pole‑sitter Mathias Beche in the #14 TDS Racing machine.

Focus shifts to race week

With Test Day complete, teams now turn their attention to the build‑up for the 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans, running from 10–14 June, and the early signs point to a fiercely contested fight for overall honours.