2026 Le Mans Build-Up- LMP2

The build-up points to Forestier #29 as the best peak-pace car, with the fastest lap and best Top 10 average, but Crowdstrike #4 looked like the best all-round LMP2 package once the sample size widened. It had the best Top 46 average, excellent long-run pace, very strong sector coverage, and a strong driver spread led by Quinn and Heinrich.

Lappery – Lap Times – Sectors – Speed Trap – All Cars

AF Corse #183 was the straight-line benchmark, but its lap-time performance was a step behind the very best all-round cars. Duqueine, IDEC, AO, Nielsen, Inter Europol and TDS were all close enough to be relevant, especially depending on traffic, driver combinations and race execution. The class looks very compressed: the best cars were separated by small margins, but the patterns suggest Forestier for single-lap speed, Crowdstrike for consistency, and AF Corse for straight-line performance.

Inter Europol’s two cars were both in the competitive LMP2 pack, but with slightly different profiles. The #343 looked especially strong in traction and acceleration areas, topping several short sub-sectors such as Daytona Exit, Ford Exit and Start Lap, which points to good driveability rather than just outright speed. Reshad de Gerus was the sharpest on peak pace, while Bijoy Garg carried a lot of the running and gave the car useful mileage.

The #43 was very close to #343 overall and looked a little stronger over the longer representative averages. It was solid across the sector tables, especially in acceleration, transition and medium-speed sections, suggesting a consistent race-style package. Nico Müller looked the strongest all-round driver, Tom Dillmann added strong pace and heavy mileage, while Jakub Śmiechowski contributed useful laps but was further back on outright speed.

Lappery

At car level, the most build-up laps were completed by #14 TDS Racing, with 216 laps. Close behind were #4 Crowdstrike and #29 Forestier, then #99 AO and #24 Nielsen

At driver level, Louis Rousset is shown with 102 laps for Forestier, but that is flagged in green and appears to be the highest driver lap count in the table. Tobias Lütke was next with 91 laps for TDS.

Lap Times

LMP2 was very tight at the front, but Forestier Racing by Panis, Crowdstrike/APR, Duqueine and AF Corse looked the strongest across the build-up.

The headline fastest lap came from #29 Forestier with 3:32.855, and it also had the best Top 10 average. However, over a deeper run the advantage moved slightly: #4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR was best on the Top 46 average, while #4 Crowdstrike and #24 Nielsen were effectively equal at the top over the Top 139 average.

Behind that lead group, Duqueine #30, AF Corse #183, IDEC #28, AO #99, Inter Europol #343/#43 and TDS #14 were all in the same band. The spread over the Top 46 average was only about one second from the best car to the lower part of the main competitive pack, so the class looked closely matched. The slower end was Proton #9/#44, RD Limited #48, DKR #3 and the United #222, particularly on longer averages.

The mighty Quinn has the best Top 20 and Top 40 times. Laurin Heinrich was also strong in the same car, giving Crowdstrike a very good overall driver line-up.

The fastest individual driver was Esteban Masson in the #29 Forestier. He also had the best Top 10 driver average, so his pace was not just a one-lap result.

Other strong driver showings included Job van Uitert in the #28 IDEC, Ben Barnicoat / Matthieu Vaxiviere in the #183 AF Corse, Jack Doohan in the #24 Nielsen, Dane Cameron / James Allen in the #99 AO, and Nico Müller / Tom Dillmann in the Inter Europol cars.

The Bronze drivers were naturally further back on outright lap averages. Among them, George Kurtz completed a large number of laps in the #4 Crowdstrike, while Tobias Lütke in the #14 TDS did the most laps of any driver in the table with 91 laps.

Approach of selected cars

When were the times set?

Due to the nature of qualifying that requires the lowest rated driver to start those that did not get through to the last session could have set a faster time in a free practice session.

Sectors

Crowdstrike #4 was the most rounded car in the sector tables. It topped S1, S3, Dunlop, Mulsanne, Ford, Esses, Porsche and Maison Blanche, and was also very strong through the long straight combinations. That explains why it led the deeper Top 46 average despite not having the single fastest lap.

AF Corse #183 was consistently near the front in the three main sectors and had the best top speed, but it was not dominant in the corner/acceleration sub-sectors. Duqueine #30 was also consistently near the front, especially in S3 and the long-straight sections, while Nielsen #24 showed good strength in Mulsanne and Daytona Exit.

Extra Sectors

Slow Corner Sectors

Fast Corner Sectors

Low Speed Acceleration Sectors

Inter Europol #343 was notable in the acceleration and transition areas. It topped Daytona Exit, Ford Exit, Start Lap, and shared the top time to Porsche with CLX #37. That points to good traction/driveability rather than just maximum speed.

Medium Straights

Long Straights

Forestier #29 looked especially strong through the long, fast Le Mans sections. It topped S2, Mul. 1 + Daytona, Mul. 2 + Mich., and Mulsanne 3, and it also produced the outright fastest lap and best Top 10 average. It looks like a car that could deliver very high peak pace, especially when conditions and traffic aligned.

and that leads into Speed Trap…

Speed Trap

The speed-trap table makes AF Corse #183 stand out. It had the best peak speed at 328.5 kph, the best Top 10 speed, the best Top 46 average at, and the best Top 139 average.

The next strongest straight-line cars were Inter Europol #343, Vector #26, Forestier #29, Duqueine #30, Inter Europol #43, Nielsen #24, CLX #37, Crowdstrike #4 and TDS #14. The difference was not huge, but AF Corse had the clearest speed advantage, especially compared with cars such as United #22, Proton #9, RD Limited #48, Algarve Pro #25 and DKR #3, which sat lower on the longer speed averages.

That said, AF Corse’s straight-line strength did not translate into the outright best lap average. It was fast, but Forestier and Crowdstrike were better balanced over the full lap.