Solid grid positions ahead of season highlight

Hyperpole for the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans delivered plenty of drama and excitement, and with three cars competing in the session across two classes, Proton Competition had its hands full. Securing strong qualifying positions across the board, the team is well placed as it prepares to take on the demanding challenge of 24 hours of racing.
 
The best of the bunch was the #77 Ford Mustang LMGT3 of Eric Powell, Ben Tuck and Sebastian Priaulx. After topping the time sheets in qualifying, Priaulx put in a rapid lap to get the car through to the second part of Hyperpole. Taking over for the final 15-minute dash, Ben Tuck then jumped in and qualified the car in tenth position in class.
 
The #88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 of Stefano Gattuso, Giammarco Levorato and Logan Sargeant just missed out on progress to Hyperpole 2 and will start the race from eleventh on the grid. In LMP2, the #9 Oreca of Kaku Ohta, Jonas Ried and Harry King will start the race from 15th on the grid in class, just ahead of the sister #44 Oreca of Horst Felbermayr Jr., Horst Felix Felbermayr and Lorenzo Fluxá in 16th.
 
Eric Powell, #77 Ford Mustang LMGT3: “I’ve never been here before, so there was always going to be a lot to learn. With so many good people around me – everyone at Ford, Proton Competition, my teammates – I’ve just been taking it all in. I’ve been building up slowly and taking my time, and yesterday’s qualifying gave me a huge step forward in confidence.”

Stefano Gattuso, #88 Ford Mustang LMGT3: “Starting from eleventh on the grid isn’t a big problem for the race, as the race is very long. We are in the middle of the pack, but we have strong pace and are very confident with the car, so we are all very happy with where we are.”

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Copyright: Proton Competition (Paola Depalmas)