Le Mans: BMW starts from pole after Cadillac's penalty

      On Thursday evening, qualifying concluded in Le Mans, specifically its final part, the so-called Hyperpole, and it seemed that the best time was set by Jack Aitken. However, the driver of the factory Cadillac team, who is part of the crew of the hypercar V-Series.R with the number 38, was penalized. After that, the pole was inherited by Belgian Dries Vanthoor, competing for BMW M Team WRT in the BMW M Hybrid V8 sports prototype – by the way, one of his teammates is Kevin Magnussen. Vanthoor set the second-best time and learned that he had won the pole only when he returned to the paddock, just as the ceremony for the qualifying winner was about to begin. However, Aitken's result, having completed a lap of the Sarthe circuit in 3:22.559, was annulled for leaving the pit lane too early, before receiving permission to do so. Thus, for the first time in the history of the "24 Hours of Le Mans," the pole went to the BMW team – this is also a first achievement for Vanthoor. "What a great surprise!" commented the 28-year-old driver, younger brother of Lawrence Vanthoor, the reserve driver for the United Autosports team. "I am very happy to start from pole for the first time in the Hypercar category. Of course, I accept this result, but I also congratulate Cadillac and Jack Aitken for a great show! Overall, our team can be very pleased with the qualifying results. Now we will prepare for the race." BMW M Team WRT indeed has something to celebrate, as tomorrow its sports prototypes will start from 1st and 4th positions. Also from the front row, the Cadillac crew, competing under number 12, will start the 24-hour race – this is Louis Delétraz, Will Stevens, and Norman Nato. The third-best time, surprising many, was set by Charles Milesi, a young French driver from Alpine, and his crew, which includes the well-known master António Félix da Costa, will start from the second row. Perhaps among the minor sensations is the sixth result of Genesis Magma Racing, a new factory team from Hyundai, making its debut in Le Mans – the drivers of its crew number 19 managed to outpace all Ferrari hypercars. Representatives of the team from Maranello, who won in Le Mans for three consecutive years, did not stand out in qualifying: the best among them was the trio of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi, who set the 8th best time. But things were even worse for Toyota – the drivers of the factory team of the Japanese corporation could not rise above the 14th position.