Motor racing-Cadillac sweep front row in Le Mans 24 Hours qualifying
Lynn set a best time of three minutes 23.166 seconds in the number 12 Team Jota Cadillac at the Sarthe circuit with New Zealand's Earl Bamber putting the sister 38 car alongside and 0.167 slower.
Lynn shares his car with compatriot Will Stevens and Frenchman Norman Nato while Bamber's teammates are 2009 Formula One world champion Jenson Button and French four-times Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais.
"I can't tell you how much I wanted this," said Lynn, who missed out on pole last year by a mere 0.138, over the team radio. "One tenth last year hurt a lot.
"I'm truly honoured to be able to put in a performance like that in front of everyone and deliver for Cadillac in the way they deserve," he added after getting out of the car.
"This is a magical circuit and this is a special feeling. I can't describe it. We will enjoy this tonight, have a good sleep and re-set."
GM-owned Cadillac are the first American marque to take outright pole at Le Mans since Ford in 1967.
The number five Porsche Penske was third fastest, after threatening to take pole, with France's Julien Andlauer, Denmark's Michael Christensen and France's Mathieu Jaminet.
The number 15 BMW qualified in fourth place with Belgian Dries Vanthoor, Swiss-Italian Raffaele Marciello and Danish former F1 driver Kevin Magnussen.
Defending champions Ferrari, outright winners for the past two years, had Italian Antonio Fuoco, Denmark's Nicklas Nielsen and Spaniard Miguel Molina in seventh place in last year's winning car number 50.
The 93rd edition of the race starts on Saturday at 1600 local (1400GMT).
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in Montreal, editing by Ken Ferris)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
32 minutes ago
- The Star
Cycling-Carapaz to miss Vuelta a Espana, focusing on world championships
FILE PHOTO: Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 11 - Viareggio to Castelnovo ne' Monti - Italy - May 21, 2025 EF Education - EasyPost's Richard Carapaz crosses the finish line to win stage 11 REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini/File Photo (Reuters) -Former Olympic champion Richard Carapaz will miss this year's Vuelta a Espana as he is yet to fully recover from an illness, the Ecuadorian confirmed on Tuesday. Carapaz, second in the 2020 Vuelta, also missed the Tour de France with the same gastrointestinal illness and has not raced since finishing third overall at the Giro d'Italia in May. "After the illness I had, I had to stop several times as I couldn't train for more than two or three days at a time," Carapaz said in a EF Education-EasyPost team statement. "Now in Ecuador, I'm trying to get back to normal with training and continue moving forward with what we had planned. I'm almost fully recovered now." Carapaz, who won the road race gold medal in Tokyo, said his season focus was now the world championships in Rwanda. "Now, the next goals we've set are the Italian classics, especially Il Lombardia, and also the world championships in Rwanda," Carapaz said. "It's a very special world championship for me, where I have a big opportunity, and I want to prepare for it the best way possible." The world championships are being held in Kigali from September 21, the first time the event has been staged in Africa. (Reporting by Martyn Herman)
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Tennis-Sinner withdraws from U.S. Open mixed doubles competition
FILE PHOTO: Aug 18, 2025; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Jannik Sinner (ITA) returns a shot against Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) during the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images/File Photo (Reuters) -Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the U.S. Open mixed doubles event, where he was going to partner Katerina Siniakova, a day after illness forced the world number one to retire five games into his Cincinnati Open final. The reimagined mixed doubles competition, a two-day event featuring 16 teams, began on Tuesday but the official draw and order of play no longer featured the Sinner-Siniakova entry. Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison replaced the Sinner-Siniakova partnership in the draw and will play Belinda Bencic and Alexander Zverev in the first round. Sinner, the reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, looked uncomfortable in sweltering conditions on Monday at Cincinnati where he retired after falling behind 5-0 in the first set. The main singles draw at the U.S. Open is scheduled to begin on Sunday. (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, ediitng by Pritha Sarkar)
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Rugby-Women's World Cup hails huge ticket sales
LONDON (Reuters) -Organisers of the Women's Rugby World Cup, which begins when hosts England play the United States on Friday, have announced ticket sales that have totally dwarfed previous tournaments, including an 82,000 Twickenham sellout for the final. At a press conference on Tuesday it was announced that 375,000 of the 470,000 available tickets have been sold. That is three times the number at the last tournament in New Zealand in 2022 and more than 10 times the 30,000 for the last World Cup held in England in 2010. The final 15 years ago was held across the road at the Twickenham Stoop, home of Harlequins, and was watched by 13,253. This year's final on September 27 will smash the record for a women's international, which is the 58,498 at the same stadium for England v France in the 2023 Six Nations. The match, and the third-place playoff that precedes it on the same day, are the only games of the tournament to be played in London. "We are very confident the final will be the most attended women's rugby match in history, easily surpassing the 66,000 crowd that we saw in Paris in 2024 (for the Olympic Sevens)," said Gill Whitehead, chair of the 2025 Rugby World Cup. "I started playing women's rugby 30 years ago, I've absolutely loved it, but the prospect of the girls running out the tunnel and playing to the three tiers of Allianz, packed to the rafters. It's something perhaps I never hoped or thought I would see. It's certainly what girls' dreams are made of. WRWC Managing Director Sarah Massey said: "We are ready to break records in attendances, viewership and engagement. This is going to be the biggest global celebration of women that we have ever seen. "Our message to fans is, don't miss out. This is going to be unmissable. You're going to see thrilling action, electric atmospheres, and be quick, because those remaining tickets are really selling up fast." More than 40,000 will be in Sunderland's Stadium of Light on Friday to watch England start a campaign they hope will end with a third title, having lost in the final to New Zealand so agonisingly three years ago. England have won 57 of their last 58 games - that Eden Park loss being the blip - and go into the tournament as odds-on favourites. New Zealand, seeking a seventh title, France and Canada look the only teams remotely qualified to challenge them. World Rugby confirmed on Tuesday that this World Cup's four semi-finalists will qualify automatically for the 2029 edition, joining hosts Australia. (Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
