The LMGT3 build-up looked very compressed. Corvette had the best Top 46 average and strongest straight-line profile, Aston Martin had the best single-lap and Top 10 driver/car pace, and Ferrari had the broadest depth across cars, drivers and acceleration sectors. Porsche, Lexus and BMW were all close enough to be relevant, but their strengths appeared more sector-specific.
Lappery – Lap Times – Sectors – Speed Trap – All Cars
Overall, the data points to a class where different cars achieved lap time in different ways: Corvette through speed, Ferrari through acceleration and depth, Aston Martin through technical-sector and driver pace, and Porsche through selected sector strengths. The most convincing all-round build-up stories were the #33 Corvette, #27 Aston Martin, and the leading Ferraris, especially the #54 and #74.
Corvette’s qualifying looks weaker than the wider build-up picture, because the TF Sport cars showed strong repeatable pace in practice and were the clear straight-line benchmark. The #33 in particular looked good on average lap pace, while the #13 and #34 had the speed profile to recover places in race conditions.
The risk is that Aston Martin and Ferrari looked sharper over the very shortest runs, with Ferrari especially strong across several cars and acceleration zones. But if Corvette’s qualifying was affected by execution, traffic or tyre timing, the underlying race pace appears strong enough to move forward.
Lappery
Ferrari’s lead the way with laps. The #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari completed the most laps, with 208. The next highest were the #54 Ferrari and #91 Porsche, both also very high-mileage entries. Among drivers, Darren Leung completed the most laps, with 94.
Lap Times
Top 5 are five different manufacturers. The build-up pace was extremely close, with the leading group covered by very small margins. Corvette, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lexus and Porsche all appeared in the strongest overall lap-time group, but in slightly different ways. The #33 TF Sport Corvette led the Top 46 average ranking, while the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin had the best outright lap and best Top 10 average.
Ferrari had strong depth, with multiple cars inside the competitive window, especially the Vista AF Corse and Kessel entries. Porsche and Lexus were also consistently near the front, while BMW was close but looked a little less dominant on full-lap averages than it did in some individual sectors. Ford and McLaren were generally in the midfield on average pace, with Mercedes-AMG mixed depending on sector and run type.
Drivers
The standout driver on outright pace was Mattia Drudi in the #27 Aston Martin, who set the best driver fastest lap and the best Top 10 average. Francesco Castellacci in the #54 Ferrari had the strongest Top 40 average, showing excellent longer-run consistency. José María López, Riccardo Pera, Ayhancan Güven, Alessio Rovera, Dennis Marschall, Jack Hawksworth and Nicky Catsburg were all high in the driver rankings.
Ferrari’s driver group looked particularly deep, with Rovera, Castellacci, Marschall, Rigon, Serra, Wadoux and others all producing competitive averages. Aston Martin’s #27 crew looked very sharp at the front, while Corvette’s TF Sport drivers gave the make strong overall consistency. Porsche’s leading pace came through both The Bend Manthey and Manthey DK Engineering, but its best build-up strength looked more spread across car performance than one single driver headline.
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
The sector picture was split rather than dominated by one make. Porsche led S1 through the #92 car, helped by strength in the Dunlop area. Aston Martin was very strong in S2 and several technical or medium-speed segments, especially with the #27. Ferrari led S3 and was particularly strong in the acceleration and start-lap type sections.
Extra Sectors
The data suggests no single make had the complete package everywhere: Ferrari had acceleration and consistency, Corvette had speed, Aston Martin had technical-sector pace, and Porsche was strong in selected fast/flowing areas.
Slow Corner Sectors
Fast Corner Sectors
Low Speed Acceleration Sectors
Ferrari looked especially good in the short acceleration zones, including Daytona Exit, Ford Exit, Esses, Start Lap and Mulsanne.
Medium Straights
Mercedes-AMG stood out at Maison Blanche.
Long Straights
BMW showed well in the Mulsanne/Daytona combined section and top-speed-related parts. Corvette was strong in the longer straight-line sections and was consistently present near the front across sectors.
and that leads into Speed Trap…
Speed Trap
A pretty clear hierarchy in speed trap times.
The Corvette was the clear straight-line reference. The #13 Corvette led the main speed-trap averages, and the #34 Corvette had the highest single best trap speed. BMW was also very strong in top speed, especially both WRT cars, while Aston Martin and Ford were close behind on average speed.
Ferrari’s overall lap pace was better than its speed-trap ranking suggested. The Ferraris were generally lower down the straight-line averages, implying their lap time came more from acceleration zones, braking, traction, or corner efficiency rather than raw terminal speed. Lexus had one very strong single best speed, but its longer-run speed averages were weaker.
Build-Up Laps for all cars
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