Doriane Pin and Duqueine Team to start sixth in LMP2 after Hyperpole at Le Mans

Following her sensational performance on Wednesday, Doriane Pin and her teammates in the #30 Duqueine Team Oreca remained among the frontrunners in the LMP2 category, ultimately securing a sixth place starting position after progressing through both phases of the Hyperpole format.

Photo credits: DPPI

The 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans moved into its decisive qualifying stages on Thursday evening as Hyperpole determined the final grid positions for Saturday's race. Following her sensational performance on Wednesday, Doriane Pin and the #30 Duqueine Team Oreca remained among the frontrunners in the LMP2 category, ultimately securing a third-row starting position after progressing through both phases of the Hyperpole format.

Pin had been one of the stars of the opening days at Le Mans. Returning to the Circuit de la Sarthe for the first time since 2023, the Frenchwoman immediately became the fastest driver in the LMP2 field.

On Wednesday she in fact topped both Free Practice and the first qualifying session, setting a stunning 3:34.662 lap that not only secured first place in class but also established a new LMP2 qualifying record around the legendary 13.6-kilometre circuit. The performance comfortably advanced the #30 Duqueine Team Oreca into Thursday's Hyperpole sessions.

For Hyperpole 1, Duqueine Team elected to place Richard Verschoor behind the wheel of the #30 Oreca. The opening phase proved far from straightforward. As the session progressed, the Dutchman had yet to record a representative lap and remained without a time as the final minutes approached. With just over two minutes remaining, Verschoor finally crossed the line to begin a flying lap and his first effort of 3:34.813 placed the Duqueine entry sixth fastest, with a particularly strong final sector helping him move safely into the provisional transfer positions.

Still looking for more, Verschoor remained on track and improved further with a lap of 3:34.386. The improvement elevated the #30 Oreca to fifth position and comfortably secured progression into Hyperpole 2, where pole position and the top ten grid spots would be decided.

With a place in the final session secured, Julien Andlauer took over driving duties for the decisive 15-minute Hyperpole shootout.

The Frenchman immediately showed the pace that had characterised the Duqueine Team throughout the week. On his first representative lap, Andlauer clocked a 3:34.522 to move to the top of the timesheets and briefly place the #30 Oreca at the head of the LMP2 field.

As the session entered its final minutes, however, lap times continued to tumble across the class. Job van Uitert was among the first to improve significantly, before Esteban Masson eventually grabbed the top spot.

Andlauer responded with another improvement of his own, but despite lowering his lap time he remained third fastest and approximately six tenths of a second adrift of Masson's benchmark.

The final minutes saw virtually every contender find additional pace. As the track conditions continued to evolve, the order shuffled repeatedly until the chequered flag eventually brought the session to an end. When the dust settled, Andlauer had recorded the sixth-fastest time in the LMP2 Hyperpole classification.

As a result, Doriane Pin, Richard Verschoor and Julien Andlauer will start Saturday's 24 Hours of Le Mans from sixth position in the LMP2 category, maintaining great hopes for a competitive race after demonstrating front-running pace throughout the week.

In LMGT3, Lilou Wadoux's hopes of participating in Hyperpole had already ended on Wednesday.

The Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 shared by Wadoux, Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini narrowly missed the top-15 cut required to advance after Toledo's qualifying effort left the team 20th in class.

As a consequence, the trio took no part in Thursday's Hyperpole sessions and will line up 20th on the LMGT3 grid for Saturday's race. While starting deeper in the field than hoped, Wadoux and her teammates remain optimistic about their chances in the twice-around-the-clock contest, where strategy, consistency and reliability prove more important than outright qualifying pace.

With Hyperpole now complete, attention turns fully to the race itself. Doriane Pin enters her second Le Mans start with realistic ambitions of challenging for LMP2 honours, as the 94th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans gets underway on Saturday afternoon.