BMW gifted 24 Hours of Le Mans pole after Cadillac penalty
Cadillac scored its second successive pole at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but was stripped of it post-session
The No.38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota entry qualified on pole for the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans by just 0.005s, but had this time deleted after the session.
Cadillac and the Jota team topped qualifying last year at Le Mans with the No.12 car, then driven by Alex Lynn, to claim the marque’s first pole at the iconic French enduro.
The No.38 car delivered this time on Thursday evening ahead of the 2026 edition of the 24 Hours, after Jack Aitken posted a 3m23.078s on his final lap to snatch pole by just 0.005s.
The No.15 BMW held top spot for most of Hyperpole 2, but was denied at the death after Stevens aced the final sector of the lap in his Cadillac.
However, the No.38 was penalised after it had celebrated pole on the podium, though it is not clear why.
Ferrari, winner of the last three editions of Le Mans, suffered a nightmare across the last two days, with its leading car the No.51 factory 499P, driven by James Calado in Hyperpole 2, only ninth before Cadillac’s penalty.
The No.50 car driven by Antonio Fuoco was only 12th, while last year’s winning No.83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hansen, will start 17th after dropping out of Wednesday’s qualifying.
Both Toyotas must also fight through the field on Saturday after qualifying a lowly 14th and 15th in a messy Hyperpole 1.
The No.15 WRT BMW set the initial pace in Hyperpole 2 with a 3m22.745s, with Driest Vanthoor bettering this on his final lap to a 3m22.559s.
At one point over a second clear of the field, the No.15 BMW’s advantage was whittled down as the 15-minute session drew to a close.
That pole time looked like it was safe, but Aitken in the No.38 Cadillac stunned with his final sector to claim top spot.
Just 0.005s split the top two cars, with the No.12 Cadillac driven by Will Stevens in that session around half a second back in third.
But the No.15 BMW inherited pole after the session due to the No.38 having its best lap deleted, dropping it to 10th and promoting everyone behind up a spot.
It marks the first pole for BMW in the top class at Le Mans, as well as for ex-F1 driver Kevin Magnussen, who shares the car with Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello
The No.12 Cadillac driven by Will Stevens will now start second, while the No.35 Alpine was third ahead of the second of the WRT BMWs.
The No.19 Genesis Magma Racing entry on its debut was sixth behind the No.101 WTR Cadillac.
Aston Martin was seventh with the 009 car, heading the No.51 Ferrari factory car and the sister Genesis.
A messy Hyperpole 1 for Toyota left the No.7 of Kamui Kobayashi and the No.8 of Ryo Hirakawa in 14th and 15th.
The polesitting No.29 Panis Racing entry qualified on pole for the LMP2 class, while top honours in LMGT3 went to the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin.
Full 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans Hyperpole results and starting grid
