Doriane Pin tops practice and first qualifying at Le Mans

The official opening day of the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans saw French star Doriane Pin emerging as the benchmark in the LMP2 category by topping both Free Practice 1 and the first qualifying session on Wednesday.

Photo credits: DPPI / Andrea Lorenzina

The official opening day of the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans saw an outstanding performance from French star Doriane Pin, who emerged as the benchmark in the LMP2 category by topping both Free Practice 1 and the first qualifying session on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Lilou Wadoux and the Richard Mille AF Corse squad endured a more challenging qualifying session in LMGT3 but plenty of time remains to improve the car's speed ahead of the endurance classic itself.

For Pin, the day marked a remarkable return to Le Mans. Making her first appearance at La Sarthe since 2023, the Frenchwoman arrived at the Circuit de la Sarthe carrying strong momentum following an impressive start to her ELMS season, her return to sportscars after her single seater stint.

After securing podium finishes and regularly fighting for victories in the European Le Mans Series LMP2 Pro-Am category, Pin stepped up to the highly competitive LMP2 Pro class for the world's most prestigious endurance race.

Joining Duqueine Team in the #30 Oreca 07-Gibson alongside Gold-rated Richard Verschoor and Platinum-rated Julien Andlauer, Pin immediately demonstrated that the trio would be serious contenders for overall LMP2 honours.

The first official practice session of the event saw the #30 Duqueine Oreca emerge as the class benchmark. Pin set the fastest lap of 3:35.248, placing the car at the top of the LMP2 leaderboard. Her effort left the #14 TDS Racing Oreca seven tenths of a second behind, while the #28 IDEC Sport machine trailed by almost a full second.

The Duqueine squad completed 33 laps combined during the opening three-hour session, as preparations for the twice-around-the-clock classic officially begun after the previous day's testing. With the fastest car in class, attention quickly turned to qualifying later in the evening.

Pin remained behind the wheel for the opening LMP2 qualifying session and once again delivered a masterclass. Her first representative lap placed her among the frontrunners, with purple sectors in both the second and third portions of the circuit helping her set the early benchmark at 3:36.127.

While Ian Aguilera briefly moved the #47 CLX Motorsport Oreca to the top of the timesheets, Pin responded: on her next flying lap she produced the fastest time of the day, clocking a sensational 3:34.662.

The lap featured the fastest time in every sector of the circuit and put the Duqueine Oreca more than half a second clear of Aguilera's Oreca. It was again a commanding statement from the French driver.

Satisfied with her performance, Pin returned to the pits with four minutes remaining in the session. As the clock ticked down, none of her rivals could improve sufficiently to challenge the time: the result secured yet another P1 for Pin and guaranteed progression into the next phase of qualifying tomorrow.

In the LMGT3 category, Lilou Wadoux is also aiming to impress at Le Mans. The Ferrari factory driver rejoined the Richard Mille AF Corse crew for the endurance classic alongside Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini. The trio had been among the title contenders throughout 2025 in ELMS and arrived at Le Mans hoping to translate that form onto the world's biggest endurance racing stage – also off the back of strong performances in IMSA, including a class victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier in the year.

The team unveiled a striking new Brazilian-inspired green-and-yellow livery on its #150 Ferrari 296 GT3, making it one of the most eye-catching entries in the LMGT3 field. During the opening practice session, the crew's best lap of 3:57.371 placed them 21st in class, though the tightly packed LMGT3 category meant they were only 1.6 seconds away from the top of the leaderboard heading into qualifying.

Bronze-rated driver Custodio Toledo was entrusted with qualifying duties for the opening LMGT3 session. Toledo immediately had a solid opening effort, initially placing the Ferrari inside the class top ten with a lap of 3:58.485 before times dropped. After completing his initial run, he returned to the pits for a fresh set of tyres before heading back onto the circuit.

As competitors continued to find time, the Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari slipped down the order and by the end of the first sequence of runs, the car sat 18th in class. Toledo continued pushing and improved to a 3:57.991, moving the Ferrari to 20th position. With enough time remaining for one final attempt, he stayed out hoping to secure a place among the top fifteen required to progress.

However, despite a determined effort, he was unable to find additional time. When the chequered flag fell, the #150 Ferrari remained 20th in the LMGT3 classification. As a result, Toledo, Wadoux and Agostini narrowly missed advancement to the next qualifying phase and will provisionally line up from 20th on the LMGT3 grid.

With two more practice sessions still scheduled before the race, including Wednesday night's night practice and Thursday's third practice session, the team will continue working to improve the Ferrari's pace ahead of the start of the race.

While Wadoux and her teammates face work to do from deeper in the field, the opening day belonged to Doriane Pin, whose exceptional speed in both practice and qualifying made the Duqueine Team Oreca as the early LMP2 benchmark on the event's first day.