Cadillac and Alpine trade blows in frantic Le Mans qualifying

The opening qualifying session for the 24 Hours of Le Mans delivered a tense, unpredictable fight for a place in the top 15, with Aston Martin, Cadillac and Alpine swapping the lead in a dramatic final shootout.

The first part of qualifying for the 2026 edition of Le Mans quickly turned into a thriller. With only the top 15 advancing to Thursday’s Hyperpole, every manufacturer was forced to push from the very first lap. Aston Martin set the early benchmark as Tom Gamble immediately put the Valkyrie AMR‑LMDh on top, with both cars showing strong pace in the opening phase.

Ferrari and Cadillac followed closely, the Italian marque chasing what would be a remarkable fourth consecutive Le Mans victory. Alpine, however, had a split session: the #38 climbed into the top five early on, while the #36 struggled to escape the mid‑pack and hovered around P16.

Tight margins and big surprises
Peugeot endured a painful evening, with both cars stuck at the bottom of the timing sheets as the clock ticked down. Toyota also found themselves on the back foot, sitting only P8 and P9 with 15 minutes remaining, far from the form they hoped to show.

At the front, the tension was enormous: the entire top five was covered by just one tenth of a second, turning every lap into a potential game‑changer.

Newcomer Genesis delivered one of the standout moments. With Dani Juncadella behind the wheel, the #19 car first broke into the top 15 and then stunned the paddock by jumping to P4 in the closing minutes.

A final shootout decided by milliseconds
The last five minutes became a frantic exchange of purple sectors. Cadillac briefly took over with a margin of three tenths, only for Aston Martin to respond and then Alpine again. It was a constant back‑and‑forth until the very end.

When the dust settled, it was the Alpine #35 that emerged fastest, ahead of the #12 and #101 Cadillacs. Ferrari scraped through “by the skin of their teeth”, securing the final spots inside the top 15. Peugeot, however, failed to advance and will not take part in Hyperpole.

The stage is now set for Thursday’s Hyperpole, where the fastest eight cars will battle for one of motorsport’s most prestigious pole positions.

More WEC: the full 2026 calendar, every race result and all of our reporting from the World Endurance Championship are collected on our FIA WEC hub.