We are approaching the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans, and with a busy motorsports calendar, we preview the three classes at this year's race prior to the Le Mans test day.
Sixty-two entries are spread across the three classes with 21 entries in the Hypercar category. Seven manufacturers are fielding cars in the top class.
Who is the Favorite?
Ferrari.
Winner of the last two years at Le Mans, Ferrari has started the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season exceptionally well with three victories from three races. At Qatar, Ferrari swept the podium. Ferrari went 1-2 at Spa-Francorchamps. The three Ferraris hold the top three in the championship.
The #51 Ferrari of James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi has won the last two races. The #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen won the opener at Qatar. AF Corse's #83 Ferrari of Robert Kubica, Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye are third in the championship.
The #50 Ferrari won last year and the #51 Ferrari won the year before that. The #83 Ferrari had a great run last year at Le Mans. Take your pick of the Ferraris.
Who are the Contenders?
It feels like there is a gap between Ferrari and the rest of the field.
The #8 Toyota is fourth in the championship, but it has yet to finish on the podium. It does have three Le Mans winners with Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa. The #7 Toyota has Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries. You cannot rule Toyota out.
Alpine has been the slight surprise this season with the #36 Apline A424 having finished third in the last two WEC rounds with Jules Gounon, Frédéric Makowiecki and Mick Schumacher. The #35 Alpine with Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi has not been quite as good with its best finish being eighth.
BMW deserves a shout. The #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 was second at Imola with Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde. The two BMWs are tied on 27 points as #15 BMW with Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor have finished in the points in all three race this season. BMW has also showed great pace in IMSA competition this season.
Is There a Triple Crown in Play?
Yes, but do not hold your breathe.
Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor won the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring this year. Nasr and Tandy will be at Le Mans in the #4 Porsche 963. Vanthoor is in the #6 Porsche. Pascal Wehrlein rounds out the #4's lineup while Matt Campbell in Kévin Estre fill out the #6 Porsche. The #5 Porsche will have Julien Andlauer, Michael Christensen and Mathieu Jaminet.
This year's title defense in WEC has been horrendous. Porsche hasn't finished better than eighth this season, a complete juxtaposition to this IMSA season where Porsche Penske Motorsport opened with four consecutive victories, eight total podium finishes and its worst race is finishing third and fourth at Detroit.
Last year, Porsche was on pole position at Le Mans. This could be the the turning point of its season, for better or worse.
What Does the IMSA Contingent Look Like?
Besides, the #4 Porsche, there are two IMSA entries at Le Mans, both are Cadillacs.
Wayne Taylor Racing makes its Le Mans debut with the #101 Cadillc with Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor and Jordan Taylor. Action Express Racing is back with the #311 Whelen Cadillac and a lineup of Jack Aitken, Felipe Drugovich and Frederik Vesti.
Both Taylor brothers have run at Le Mans before. Ricky has made nine starts, but never in the top class. Jordan has also made nine Le Mans starts, all in GT competition. He won the GTE Pro class in 2015 and he has been on a class podium four times. Albuquerque made two Le Mans starts in LMP1 with Audi in 2014 and 2015. Since then, he has made nine LMP2 appearances and won the class in 2020.
Aitken and Drugovich drove together last year at Le Mans, and this will be Aitken's fourth Le Mans start. It was Drugovich's debut, and Vesti made his debut last year at Le Mans in LMP2.
Is There a Chance Felipe Drugovich Misses Le Mans to Make his Formula One Debut?
Why yes, because Drugovich is the Aston Martin reserve driver and Lance Stroll's status for the Canadian Grand Prix remains in question after a persistent wrist injury forced Stroll out of the car prior to the Spanish Grand Prix.
If Stroll is unable to go and Drugovich gets the call, it is unclear who will fill the #311 Cadillac. It must be emphasized, as it currently stands, Drugovich will be at Le Mans.
What are the Best Stories?
Sébastien Bourdais is the native son of Le Mans. Bourdais is making his 18th Le Mans appearance. He has never won the race overall. Three times he was runner-up. He did win the GTE Pro class with Ford in 2016. That's nice. It isn't overall.
Bourdais has two-time overall winner Earl Campbell and 2009 World Drivers' Champion Jenson Button as his co-drivers in the #38 Hertz Team Jota Cadillac. Button could become the fifth driver to win Le Mans and the World Drivers' Championship joining Mike Hawthorn, Jochen Rindt, Graham Hill and Fernando Alonso. How is that for company?
If you like a story, the #38 Cadillac is for you.
It should be noted the #12 Hertz Team Jota Cadillac has scored points in all three WEC races and it has two-time Le Mans class winner Will Stevens (2017 - GTE Am, 2022 - LMP2) with another past Le Mans class winner in Alex Lynn (2020 - GTE Pro), and Norman Nato rounds out the lineup.
There is also the #83 AF Corse Ferrari and an overall Le Mans victory for Robert Kubica, even though he has been regularly competing for nearly the last decade and returned to Formula One in 2019, is still remarkable considering the rallying accident he had in 2011.
Who is Happy Just to be There?
Peugeot's best finish this season in WEC is ninth. Aston Martin has failed to finish in the top ten this season. Peugeot has the chance to win over the home crowd with a stunning victory. The Aston Martin is loud... at least it has that going for it.
There is also a fourth Porsche. Proton Competition has entered the #99 Porsche 963 for Neel Jani, Nico Pino and Nicolás Varrone. Proton has yet to score a point in the first three WEC races.
General Le Mans Facts to Keep in Mind
Ferrari reached 11 overall Le Mans victories last year, two behind Audi for second all-time. Porsche holds the all-time lead with 19.
Toyota is one victory away from tying Bentley for fifth all-time on six.
The United Kingdom has produced the most winners, 42 drivers combining for 45 victories. France is second with 28 drivers combining for 42 victories, but the last French winner was Benoît Tréluyer in 2014.
Davy Jones is the most recent overall American winner, coming in 1996.
Alexander Wurz remains the youngest overall winner in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at 22 years and 91 days old. Two drivers could break that record. Malthe Jakobsen will be 21 years, seven months and 17 days old on Sunday in the #94 Peugeot. Nico Pino will be 20 years, eight months and 25 days old in the #99 Proton Porsche.
There has never been a Brazilian to win overall.
The last time a Le Mans winner had all its drivers from the same country was in 1980 when Jean Rondeau and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud won in the Rondeau M379B. The only Hypercar entry with all its drivers from the same country is the all-British #007 Aston Martin of Tom Gamble, Ross Gunn and Harry Tincknell.
The race winner has started on the front two rows the last ten years. The last time a car started worse than row three was in 2005 when the #3 Champion Racing Audi of Tom Kristensen, JJ Lehto and Marco Werner won from eighth starting spot.
Last year's 311 laps completed were the fewest for an overall winner since the McLaren F1 GTR of Yannick Dalmas, JJ Lehto and Masanori Sekiya won in 1995 with 298 laps completed.
Michelin will match Dunlop for most victories for a tire manufacturer with 34. This will be Michelin's 28th consecutive Le Mans victory.
Schedule
Sunday June 8 marks the Le Mans test day with two three-hour sessions, the first taking place at 4:00 a.m. ET and the second run at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Practice during race week will begin on Wednesday June 11. The first practice will be held at 11:00 a.m. ET and run for three hours. The first round of qualifying will take place at 12:45 p.m., beginning with the LMP2 and LMGT3 classes taking to the track to determine the Hyperpole participants. The first round of Hypercar qualifying will be held at 1:30 p.m. ET. Each session will be 30 minutes. Wednesday ends with night practice at 4:00 p.m. and running for two hours.
Another three-hour practice will run at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday June 12. Hyperpole qualifying will be run at 2:00 p.m. starting with LMGT3 and LMP2. Hypercar's Hyperpole session will run at 3:05 p.m. The final night practice will be a one-hour session held at 5:00 p.m.
The 15-minute warm-up session will be run at 6:00 a.m. ET on Saturday June 14 prior to the start of the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans at 10:00 p.m. ET.
