In a historic qualifying session for the 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, BMW M Motorsport has achieved its first-ever pole position at the legendary French endurance race. Dries Vanthoor of Belgium put the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 on the top spot for BMW M Team WRT, marking a watershed moment for the German manufacturer's top-class prototype program.
Vanthoor's lap time of 3:22.564 minutes initially placed him second by a razor-thin margin of just 0.005 seconds behind the pacesetting Cadillac. However, the cancellation of Cadillac's fastest lap elevated the BMW driver to the top of the timing screens, giving BMW its maiden Hypercar pole at Le Mans. The achievement is a testament to the rapid progress BMW M Motorsport has made since returning to the top class of endurance racing.
Robin Frijns backed up Vanthoor's heroics by claiming fourth place in the sister #20 Shell BMW M Hybrid V8, ensuring both BMW Hypercar entries will start from the top half of the grid when the race gets underway on Saturday at 16:00 CEST.
LMGT3 Class Success
BMW's strong qualifying performance extended to the LMGT3 class as well. Both WRT-entered BMW M4 GT3 EVOs advanced to Hyperpole 2, with Sean Gelael (INA) placing the #32 car fifth and Parker Thompson (CAN) putting the #69 entry sixth on the LMGT3 grid.
Team Reaction
"A fantastic qualifying session for the 24 Hours of Le Mans — it couldn't have gone any better," said Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport. "Just getting all four cars into Hyperpole 2 was a huge success in itself, but to have now secured BMW M Motorsport's first ever pole position at Le Mans is simply fantastic!"
Roos praised Vanthoor's brilliant lap and thanked everyone who has worked on the BMW M Hybrid V8 project over the years, calling it "a fantastic reward for their efforts."
Vincent Vosse, Team Principal of BMW M Team WRT, expressed surprise and delight. "I am very happy to be on pole position for the first time in Hypercar. I take that, of course, but at the same time congratulations to Cadillac and Jack Aitken for putting on a great show!"
Vanthoor himself was characteristically focused despite the achievement. "I'm super happy to be on pole at Le Mans! This is such a great event, and now being on pole here and giving everyone in the team what they deserve, is awesome. At the same time our goal is to win the race, so we need to keep it clean over 24 hours to be right there on Sunday."
The Race Ahead
With all four BMW M Motorsport entries starting from strong positions — pole and fourth in Hypercar, fifth and sixth in LMGT3 — the Bavarian manufacturer enters the 24-hour classic with realistic hopes of a top-class victory. The 24 Hours of Le Mans will commence on Saturday, June 14, at 16:00 CEST, with the iconic French endurance classic set to crown its 93rd overall winner on Sunday afternoon.
Image Source: BMW Group
