Highlights, infos, figures and laptimes of 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours Test Day

• Best lap time went to Antonio Giovinazzi (Ferrari 499P #51) in 3'29"504. This was an improvement on the 2022 benchmark, set by the #7 Toyota GR010 in 3'29"896. Six drivers went under 3'30": Antonio Giovinazzi (Ferrari), Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche), Kamui Kobayashi (Toyota), Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari), Felipe Nasr (Porsche) and Alessandro Pier Guidi (Ferrari). Antonio Fuoco was the only driver under 3'31" this morning, with a time of 3'30"686.

• As for the sectors, the Porsche 963s proved very effective in the first sector, from the starting line to Tertre Rouge. Both in the morning (Laurens Vanthoor in 32"926) and in the afternoon (Frédéric Makowiecki in 32"697), the German LMDhs dominated the Ferrari 499Ps. The Italians then regained the upper hand in sector 2 (Mulsanne straight - 1'20"030 for Alessandro Pier Guidi in the afternoon), confirming their good top speed seen at Spa, and in sector 3 (Fuoco, in 1'35"975). By way of comparison, in sector 2, the Porsches lost between one and two tenths, the first Toyota and the first Cadillac three tenths, the best Peugeot four over the best Ferrari. However, these figures must be seen in the light of traffic / slipstream and fuel consumption. 

• José Maria Lopez's #7 Toyota GR010 was the fastest yesterday at 342.3 km/h. Next came the Ferrari #51 and Toyota "8 (341.3), the second Ferrari #50 (339.1) and the first Glickenhaus #708 and Peugeot 9X8 #94 (338.1). The best Cadillac, #3 - Cadillac Racing, went 337 km/h. Same speed for the first Porsche 963 #38 - Hertz Team JOTA. The Vanwall Vanderwell 680 returned just under 10 km/h to the Toyota. In LMP2, the Oreca 07 #34 - Inter Europol Competition was caught at 326.8 km/h, having undoubtedly benefited from excellent suction, since the next best LMP2 reached 322.9 km/h. The Chevrolet Camaro Nascar was flashed at 305.6 km/h, faster than the best GTE Am, the Ferrari 488 GTE #21 - AF Corse (303 km/h).

• Porsche Penske Motorsport clocked up 142 laps (1,935 km) with its three 963 LMDhs. To this must be added the 55 loops of the Hertz Team JOTA customer car, making a total of 197 laps for the Porsches. Reliability was the order of the day in the German clan, with only the #75 being delayed for two hours by a braking system component that had to be replaced on Sunday afternoon. Cadillac completed 163 laps, Toyota 132, Ferrari 128, Glickenhaus 120, Peugeot 107, and Vanwall 62.

• Kazuki Nakajima completed his first laps on circuit of La Sarthe since his 2021 victory with Toyota. The Japanese driver replaced Sébastien Buemi, who was in Djakarta for his Formula E program. "It was great to be back in the car for the first time since March, when I joined the post-race testing at Sebring," says Nakajima. Driving this car at Le Mans is always something special, and it was a great honor to come back and start the session with the #8. It was a short stint, but it felt like coming home and I'm delighted to have been able to contribute to the testing program." 

• The Cadillac clan worked as one on this Test Day, albeit with all three V-Series.R cars on different test programs. " The Cadillac clan worked as one on this Test Day, albeit with all three V-Series.R cars on different test programs. We had each of the three cars on different layouts to maximize the amount of information we could gather for the program," comments Laura Wontrop Klauser, GM Competition Programs Manager. It's also an opportunity to test all the equipment that operates behind the scenes. Cadillac races as a single team. Team members from all three cars work to support each other, and that's how we're able to spread out over three separate test plans, analyze the information and debrief as a single unit and select the best choices for everyone for the race."

• More than two seconds separate the #24 Chevrolet Camaro Nascar - Hendrick Motorsports, entered as part of Garage 56, from the best of the GTEs. "It's so cool to be here," says multiple NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. The experience of being on this track. I wanted to come here and be a part of it. It's been a nine-month journey that we've spent assembling the car, testing it, developing it, coming here. Those first ten laps for me were just crazy. What's really great about this track is that the straights are so long that you can really savor the moment. With every lap I did, the fun I was having out there became more real and more intense. It was incredible."

• The LMP2 reference time, set by Pietro Fittipaldi at the very end of the session on Sunday afternoon with the Oreca 07 #28 - JOTA in 3'35"472, compares with the 2022 time of 3'32"099. It should be remembered that the category's prototypes have been slowed down for this season, with less power available. 

• On her LMP2 debut at Le Mans, Doriane Pin set her best lap in 3'39"494. " I've known the circuit since Road To Le Mans in GT3, but LMP2 is a different stage and the sensations are incredible," says the Frenchwoman. The track was still quite green, but I enjoyed every lap today and I feel we're heading in the right direction. I'm looking forward to the next sessions."

• In GTE Am, the benchmark was raised from 3'54"827 to 3'56"088 between 2022 and 2023. Thomas Neubauer was fastest with the Ferrari 488 GTE #66 - JMW Motorsport.

• Among the rookies at the event, Malthe Jakobsen (Oreca 07 #37 - COOL Racing) was fastest in LMP2 (3'37"620). Casper Stevenson (Aston Martin Vantage GTE #777 - D'Station Racing) set the best time for a rookie in GTE Am (3'56"727). 

• Seven cars went faster in the morning than in the afternoon: the #47 Oreca 07 - COOL Racing, the #48 Oreca 07 - IDEC Sport, the #34 Oreca 07 - Inter Europol Competition, the #14 Oreca 07 - Nielsen Racing, the #21 Ferrari 488 GTE - AF Corse, and the #25 Aston Martin Vantage GTE - ORT by TF Sport and #55 - GMB Motorsport.

• Alexandre Coigny (Oreca 07 #37 - COOL Racing) accumulated the highest number of laps for a driver on this Test Day with 39 loops. The Swiss driver was followed by Renger van der Zande (Cadillac V-Series.R #3 - Cadillac Racing) (36), François Perrodo (Oreca 07 #80 - AF Corse) (34) and Antonio Giovinazzi (Ferrari 499P #51) (33).

• A l'inverse, Nicolas Varrone (Chevrolet Corvette C8.R n°33 - Corvette Racing) est le pilote à avoir le moins roulé hier, avec 8 tours. L'Argentin est suivi par Nicolas Lapierre (Oreca 07 n°37 - COOL Racing), avec 9 tours.

• Test Day was an opportunity to test the new safety car procedure. The first neutralization lasted around 25', allowing time for Merging, Pass-Around and Drop-Back. The second neutralization in the afternoon, after two LMP2s went off the track, lasted a little longer at around 37'. All our explanations on these new rules can still be viewed in our dedicated video (in French). 

• Our special 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary Edition Guide (French Version) will be updated in the next few hours with updated photos of the cars (in action on Test Day), a few corrections to typos (which we would like to thank you for pointing out), and the first results available at the very end of the Guide.

Download Endurance-Info 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans special Guide