Relive the 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day in live text

After two days of weighing, technical checks and a remarkable run in the city center, it is time for the 62 cars entered in the 24 Hours of Le Mans to take on the circuit for the first time, with the Test Day. Split into two sessions (10 a.m.-13 p.m. and 15:30 p.m.-18:30 p.m.), the day is essential to validate the setup guidelines ahead of the testing and qualifying days on Wednesday and Thursday.

24 Hours of Le Mans 2025
Relive Test Day in live text

18:30 p.m. – 🏁 Race management officially waves the checkered flag! Thank you for following us all day. All the reactions and feedback from this 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day will be available in your magazine, available digitally from Monday at 20 p.m. and on newsstands Wednesday.

18h28 - It is therefore Toyota who finished with the best time of this Test Day, a 3:26.246 achieved by Brendon Hartley in the opening minutes of the afternoon session. The teams will now have two days to scrutinize the data before returning to the track on Wednesday for the first free practice.

18:24 p.m. – 🔴 RED FLAG 🔴 The afternoon session therefore ends a little earlier than expected, one of the Mercedes-AMG made a mistake when exiting the bends Porsche.

18h15 - 🟢 The session resumes for the final fifteen minutes. A chance to see some times fall?

17h55 - 💥 It was Giorgio Roda who crashed at the wheel of the No. 2 Proton Competition Oreca LM P11 at the Indianapolis corner.

17:53 p.m. – 🔴 RED FLAG 🔴 The session is interrupted for the second time.

17h52 - After seeing the times of the two Alpine erased earlier in the session for speeding in the pits, Mick Schumacher has just placed the No. 36 in fourth position, one second off the best time.

17h32 - We're entering the final hour of this 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day. The Porsches are now entering the fray, with the fourth-fastest time for the No. 6 car of Kevin Estre, last year's pole-sitter, and the fifth-fastest performance for Nick Tandy in the No. 4.

17h17 - 🛠️ BMW confirms that the #20 car suffered a mechanical issue, which the WRT team is investigating, with the car having returned to the garage.

17h12 - ⚠️ The Ferrari The Ziggo Sport Tempesta team's No. 296 3 LMGT193 has just been given a five-minute stop-and-go penalty for breaking track limits. Eduardo Freitas and his team mean business!

17:10 p.m. – ☁️ As has been the case since the start of the session, it's cloudy at Le Mans, with an air temperature of 21°C and a track temperature of 34°C. This doesn't stop the drivers from setting fast times, thanks in part to the resurfacing of the entrance to the Porsche corners, which allows them to carry more speed into them.

17:09 p.m. – 🟢 Green flag, here we go again! 

17h05 - The session should soon be restarted, according to the race management.

16h53 - The interruption was caused by Sheldon van der Linde's No. 20 BMW, the South African having brought his M Hybrid V8 to a standstill at the entrance to the Porsche Corners. The car appeared undamaged on circuit surveillance cameras and was removed using a crane.

16:52 p.m. – 🔴 RED FLAG 🔴 No reason given at this time.

16h32 - After an hour of the session, it is still the Toyota n°8 which leads the debates, ahead of two Ferraris, the n°51 and the n°83, which set the best time this morning. In LM P2, the United Autosports n°22 is the fastest, while in LMGT3, it is the Lexus n°87 of the Akkodis ASP team which is in front.

16:24 p.m. – ⚠️ The No. 16 RLR M Sport Oreca, which set the fastest time this morning, had to wait 30 minutes longer than its rivals before being allowed to take to the track this afternoon. The reason for this was the presence of illegal sensors, which is why race management decided to ban them from participating in the first 30 minutes.

16:22 p.m. – 🟢 It's back under green flag conditions.

16:20 p.m. – 🟡 SLOW ZONE 🟡 The cars are idling from Tertre Rouge until the first chicane at Mulsanne. We haven't had this type of neutralization yet today, so the range is now complete!

16:18 – 📸 It was obviously an expected shot, so we're sharing it with you,Aston Martin Valkyrie and the famous sign indicating the Hunaudières roundabout:

© Julien Delfosse / DPPI

16h14 - La Peugeot 9X8 No. 94 was announced to be slow on the track, but it managed to reach the pit lane with Stoffel Vandoorne at the wheel.

16h00 - The Test Day is also a very important moment for rookies at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, who must complete ten laps of the track to validate their participation. 39 drivers were involved, with six now remaining who have not yet completed their entire program. Luca Ghiotto and Nick Boulle (Oreca No. 34), Clemens Schmid (Lexus No. 87), Brenton Whole grained (Mercedes n°63), Lars Kern (Corvette n°13) and Eduardo Barrichello (Aston Martin n°10) still have to complete this prerequisite.

15h58 - The No. 009 Aston Martin also had to deal with a gravel trap near Indianapolis, so the Full Course Yellow allowed it to be removed and the track to be cleaned of debris.

15:55 p.m. – 🟢 Green flag, It's back to normal for everyone, who can once again set off at full speed on the Le Mans 24 Hours Circuit.

15h49 - Cars are therefore limited to 80 km/h during the entire Full Course Yellow phase, over the entire circuit.

15:47 p.m. – 🟡 FULL COURSE YELLOW 🟡 A plastic bollard came loose on one of the bends, so the marshals will be able to take advantage of this opportunity to clear the track of this debris.

15h45 - Having suffered an accident during the first session (see photo), the Oreca No. 34 from Inter Europol Competition returned to the track, once again with Luca Ghiotto at the wheel.

© DPPI

15h37 - 3:26.246 for the Toyota n°8 of Brendon Hartley, the best time of the day was therefore established in the first minutes of this session.

15:30 p.m. – 🟢 The second session of the day begins, with three hours available for the drivers and teams.

15h15 - The 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day will resume in fifteen minutes, with a second three-hour session! The sun has now left the Sarthe region, but the rain hasn't disrupted the festivities for the time being.

13h05 - See you at 15:15 p.m. for the afternoon session, still live!

13h03 - There will be no question of any downtime for the teams or the race management, for example, during this break. A spokesperson for the Iron Dames confirmed that the race management will conduct its investigation around 14 p.m. into the incident involving the #85 Porsche and the #37 Oreca CLX, which touched at the Dunlop Curve.

13h00 - 🏁 This first three-hour session concludes, with the #83 Ferrari in the lead! The cars, which will hopefully number 62 following Ghiotto's crash, will return to the track at 15:30 p.m.!

12h59 - There is now less than a minute left in this studious and rather calm morning, if we exclude the track exit of Luca Ghiotto, at the wheel of the Oreca n°34 of Inter Europol Competition earlier in the day.

12:50 p.m. – 🔊 We can only advise you to turn up the volume, the Aston Martin Valkyrie has arrived at Le Mans!

The soundtrack to Le Mans 2025.#Aston Martin #ValkyrieHypercar # LeMans24 #NoiseMakers pic.twitter.com/Hkqsfxtsu4

— Aston Martin Racing (@AMR_Official) June 8, 2025

12h46 - 💬 Jack Aitken, just like Jules Gounon at Alpine, drove the No. 311 Cadillac first this morning, as he has now headed to Zandvoort. The two men will contest the second race of the weekend in DTM before returning to Le Mans tomorrow. The Briton's first impressions: « Like last year, the track was surprisingly fast because there had been support races and there was already some rubber. The car worked well straight away. We have a known baseline from previous years and we didn't stray too far from it on this first day. We know we have a strong car, so it's nice to jump straight in and focus on the details rather than the big picture. I'm looking forward to coming back this week to spend more time in the car."

12h33 - We are entering the last half hour of testing at the start of the day, the Hypercar teams are now rather focused on race pace it seems, with times beyond 3:30. In LM P2, the #16 of RLR M Sport, the last car to have gone through the Pesage this Saturday, leads the debates, while it is the #87 Lexus which is the first of the LMGT3.

12h22 - A key point at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is, of course, top speeds. The No. 20 BMW has just set the highest speed on the Mulsanne Straight. Robin Frijns was clocked at 342,3 km/h.

12h00 - No lunch break yet for the 24 Hours of Le Mans teams as we enter the final hour of this first practice session. Four manufacturers currently occupy the top five positions in the standings, while things are off to a good start at Aston Martin, with both Valkyries in the top 10. The standings:

11h59 - Race control has placed the Iron Dames No. 85 Porsche and CLX No. 37 Oreca under investigation for an incident at the first corner. Both cars are currently in the pit lane.

11h53 - For comparison, Kevin Estre took pole position for the 24 2024 Hours of Le Mans in 3:24, so there are still a good three seconds to go, but Kubica's time perhaps demonstrates a first

11:46 a.m. – ⏱️ Ferrari wakes up and takes the lead with Robert Kubica’s No. 83! The Polish driver set a time of 3:27.010, 1,9 seconds ahead of Jack Aitken's No. 311 Cadillac.

11h40 - This is currently the Toyota GR010 No. 8 of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa who completed the most laps in this morning session, twenty, just ahead of the Aston Martin n°009.

11h34 - Race management wants to speak immediately with a representative of the #20 BMW - something must have gone wrong!

11h32 - As we reach the halfway point of this first session of the day, the #2 Oreca LM P45 from Algarve Pro Racing has not yet set a time, it is the only car to have done so. The complete classification
11:26 a.m. – 🟢 The session is back! The various merging and pass-around procedures are complete, providing good training for race management and the teams ahead of next week's 24 Hours.

11:14 – 💥 Luca Ghiotto is unharmed after hitting the wall at the turn of the kartingHis No. 34 Oreca has been cleared, and race control has indicated that the "merging" procedure, the transition from three to one Safety Car, will soon be able to begin.

11h00 - The first hour of this morning session concludes, with the three safety cars still on the track. Laurens Vanthoor logically retains the fastest time of the session, with no one currently able to improve on it.

10h55 - The No. 34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca, driven by Luca Ghiotto, is reported stopped near Indianapolis. The Italian apparently hit and damaged the front of his car.

10h51 - The three safety cars are on the track, and we can actually see the three different groups gathered on the track.

10:46 a.m. – 🟡 Safety Car Procedure 🟡 The race direction displays double yellow flags at the marshals' post number 32.

10h41 - The top 15 of this morning after 41 minutes, we find Porsche, Toyota and Ferrari at the forefront:

10h31 - Half an hour has passed in this 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day, and Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche No. 6) now holds the best time at 3:29.002.

10h25 - 🟢 It's back under the green flag regime

10h23 - 🟡 FULL COURSE YELLOW 🟡 Bent Viscaal's No. 11 Proton was reported as having stopped, but it was clearly due to debris on the track that the neutralization was decided upon.

10h13 - Alessandro Pier Guidi's No. 51 Ferrari is currently under investigation for excessive speed in the pit lane. That's also what Test Day is for: perfecting the reflexes! The same investigation is under way for Raffaele Marciello's No. 15 BMW. The Italian-Swiss driver kicks off a particularly intense June this weekend, as he'll be competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, then the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring the following week, and the 24 Hours of Spa two weeks after Le Mans.

10h10 - Robert Kubica currently leads the timesheets with a time of 3:30.463 at the wheel of the No. 83 Ferrari. Obviously, these early times are far from representative.

10h04 - The reigning winners took to the track, with Antonio Fuoco at the wheel.

10h02 - 59 of the cars entered are on track at the moment, with only the reigning winner #50 Ferrari, the #2 Algarve Pro Racing LM P45 and the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari in LMGT3 remaining warm in their pits for the start of the session.

10h00 - 🟢 Green light at the end of the pit lane, it's off for the first three hours of testing of the day!

09h58 - The Aston Martin Valkyrie is preparing to drive for the first time on the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit:

09h57 - The machines are heading towards the pit lane exit, it's time to start the track activities for this 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans!

09h56 - The sounds of air guns echo just below us in the pit lane, a sign that everyone is getting ready to take to the track!

09h53 - Some drivers will only be able to compete in the morning session, this is notably the case for Jules Gounon in theAlpine No. 36 or Jack Aitken in the No. 311 Cadillac. Both drivers will fly directly to Zandvoort in the Netherlands, where they will compete in the second race of the DTM weekend.

09h45 - ⛅️ The sun is still out, but so are the clouds! Test Day is expected to be a mix of sunny spells and cloudy periods, with light showers also possible.

09h40 - Hello everyone, welcome to AUTOhebdo.fr to follow the 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day live with commentary!