Cadillac locks out front row of the grid on Le Mans anniversary

Alex Lynn produced a sensational lap of 3m23.166s behind the wheel of the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R to cement his second career pole position in the FIA World Endurance Championship. This was achieved 12 months after missing out on the top spot on the starting grid at La Sarthe by a tiny 0.138 seconds. Today, the Briton put that pain firmly in the past.

“I can’t tell you how much I wanted this,” Lynn told his team over the in-car radio on his slowing-down lap, holding back tears. “I’ve thought about it for a long time. One tenth last year hurt a lot. You guys gave me all the tools today. We have bigger things to do this weekend, but project pole position has come through!” 

After climbing out of the cockpit, he added: “Every time you have the opportunity to drive this kind of car around Le Mans with low fuel and new tyres, it’s an honour – and I’m truly honoured to be able to put in a performance like that in front everyone and deliver for Cadillac in the way they deserve. This is a magical circuit and this is a special feeling. I can’t describe it. We will enjoy this tonight, have a good sleep and re-set.” 

If the 31-year-old found himself on the wrong side of a single tenth-of-a-second in 2024, today he was not to be denied, clinching the prime starting berth by 0.167 seconds as Cadillac became the first American marque to claim the outright pole for the race since 1967 and Lynn the first British driver to do so since Johnny Herbert in 2004.

Not only that, but to complete the Detroit-based brand’s delight, Earl Bamber put the #38 V-Series.R alongside the sister car in second on the grid – a feat previously accomplished by only four other manufacturers.

Mathieu Jaminet ran the Caddy pair closest in Porsche Penske Motorsport’s leading #5 963 entry, delivering the reigning world champions a timely boost in what has been a tough season to-date.

After yesterday’s disqualification for the #6 963 Hypercar, the wheels looked to be falling off Porsche’s challenge again in H1 – quite literally for Julien Andlauer, as his rear-right wheel parted company with the car while the Frenchman was sat at the summit of the timing screens – but the German prototype made it through to the Q2 top ten shootout and Jaminet rewarded the team’s efforts by securing third on the grid, after again topping the timesheets for much of the session.

Dries Vanthoor produced a rapid last lap to fire BMW M Team WRT’s #15 M Hybrid V8 up to fourth ahead of IMSA championship leader Nick Tandy in the #4 Porsche and Sheldon van der Linde in the second BMW Hypercar.

The biggest surprise of the session was the comparative lack of speed from the three Ferrari 499Ps, which have dominated proceedings thus far in FIA WEC in 2025. Antonio Fuoco could manage no better than seventh in last year’s race-winning #50 scarlet machine, with the championship-leading #51 499P piloted by Alessandro Pier Guidi and the privately-run #83 AF Corse entry in the hands of Yifei Ye failing to make the H2 cut at a track where the Prancing Horse has won in each of the past two years.

Results are HERE