The historic Le Mans pole in “special” Cadillac that ended a year of agony

Jota Cadillac driver Alex Lynn says he “waited 12 months” to take pole at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans following his cruel defeat in the 2024 Hyperpole.

Alex Lynn came just over a tenth away from taking a first pole at Le Mans for Cadillac in last year’s Le Mans, but for a late flying effort from Porsche’s Kevin Estre to deny him.

But on Thursday ahead of the 2025 edition of the French enduro, Lynn got his revenge as he snatched pole away from the No.5 Porsche to ultimately lead a Jota Cadillac 1-2 ahead of the No.38 driven by Earl Bamber.

It marks Cadillac’s first pole at Le Mans and the first for an American manufacturer in the top class since 1967.

“It feels special, but I have to say for me personally I’ve waited 12 months to do this again,” he told the media, including Crash.net, on Thursday.

“The P2 last year was one tenth off of pole and it felt like 100 miles away.

“There’s a big difference between P1 and P2, just in that feeling, and I was determined to have that feeling tonight.”

On the wait for all cars to finis Hyperpole, Lynn added: “It’s tough, because also again I was remembering 12 months ago when I thought I had it, and then 30 seconds later Kevin Estre comes over the line.

“So, it’s a hard wait. It’s the longest 30 seconds.”

Cadillac topped every session on the way to the final Hyperpole session, while pre-race favourites Ferrari ended up with just one car - the No.50 - in the top 10 down in seventh.

Asked by Crash if he was surprised by the Ferrari’s posing no threat to Cadillac in Hyperpole, Lynn replied: “Well, I think they will be very fast [in the race].

“But I have to say the Cadillac over one lap has something a bit special.

“We’ve found that over the last three years, but obviously to put it altogether over one lap is never easy.”

He added: “I think it’s just got the downforce and the way it can fire up its tyres.

“To be good in qualifying you need a lot of front end and I think we’ve got a lot of front downforce on our car to hook it up.

“I think sometimes the window can be a bit too small. But when it’s on song, it’s a brilliant car.”

Lynn’s final lap didn’t look like it would challenge for pole after the second sector, but a mighty final split allowed him to produce the 3m23.166s time that would claim top spot.

“Yeah, I did,” he said when asked if he left it all out there in sector three.

“I think the third sector is always my best, I think the second is my weakest. So, you kind of get a feeling of your level of risk.”

Now in his third season as a Cadillac driver in the World Endurance Championship, Lynn’s only podium in the car in the series remains a third-place finish at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

However, he did take the Cadillac to victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring IMSA SportsCar Championship round in 2022.

Last year he was seventh at Le Mans, while the No.12 car’s best result in 2025 has been a fifth last time out at Spa.