Toyota Beats Ferrari in Dramatic Late Surge at Le Mans 24 Hours Free Practice 2

Toyota edged out Ferrari in an unexpected finish during the second free practice session of the Le Mans 24 Hours at Circuit de la Sarthe. The session ran under the night lights, and it ended with a tight battle at the top.

Kamui Kobayashi delivered the fastest lap of the session in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid. He clocked a 3m26.096s time just as the chequered flag dropped. That final push gave Toyota a clear edge of more than two-tenths over Ferrari.

Chaotic Start At Le Mans Night Practice

Toyota Beats Ferrari in Dramatic Late Surge at Le Mans

FP2 didn't start smoothly at the Le Mans 24 Hours because the early laps were full of interruptions. Drivers struggled to find rhythm as incidents kept bringing out caution periods.

Nyck de Vries had a moment in the Toyota camp when he ran wide at the Dunlop Chicane. He hit the kerbs hard and spun, leaving debris on the track. Race control quickly deployed a full-course yellow.

At almost the same time, the #44 Proton Competition Oreca came to a stop on the track. Soon after, the #22 United Autosports LMP2 car also suffered mechanical trouble. These issues stacked up early and slowed the entire field.

Ferrari And Toyota Trade Fastest Laps

Even with the chaos, the front of the field stayed competitive. Brendon Hartley initially set the pace in the #8 Toyota. He broke into the 3m30s range and put Toyota in early control. But Ferrari answered quickly.

Robert Kubica, driving the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, moved to the top with a 3m26.316s lap. That put Ferrari in a strong position and raised the intensity.

Filipe Albuquerque briefly jumped ahead in the WTR Cadillac, showing how close the Hypercar field really is. But Kubica struck back again before the end of the opening hour.

The lead kept changing hands, and no team could fully break away.

Toyota Strikes Back At The Perfect Moment

The final minutes changed everything as another full-course yellow came out after an issue near a marshal post. Then Dries Vanthoor spun the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 at the Esses, adding more disruption.

That opened the door for a final push.

Toyota used the timing perfectly. According to MotorSports, Kobayashi first reclaimed the lead with a 3m26.329s lap. He then improved again to secure the fastest time of the night.

Ferrari's #83 AF Corse entry settled for second. The #101 WTR Cadillac completed the top three.

Strong Performances Across All Classes

Behind the Hypercar battle, the rest of the field also delivered strong moments.

Victor Martins impressed in the #36 Alpine A424, finishing fourth in class. Cadillac and Genesis also stayed close in the top group, keeping pressure on the leaders. Aston Martin continued development work, with Harry Tincknell placing eighth in the Valkyrie project.

In LMP2, Louis Rousset topped the category in the #29 Forestier by Panis Oreca. He posted a strong 3m33.645s lap to lead the field.

LMGT3 action saw Darren Leung put the #32 WRT BMW M4 GT3 on top after an early push in the session.

Le Mans Builds Toward A Tight Battle

With Toyota and Ferrari separated by only fractions of a second, the Le Mans 24 Hours is going to be a close fight. FP2 showed how quickly things can change.

One lap can flip the order. One mistake can reset everything.

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