Le Mans preview: Toyota tops test day, but can it beat Ferrari?

Text & Images: Rick Kiewiet, Manthey, Toyota, Iron Lynx

After months of anticipation, the 93nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is finally upon us. Sixty-two cars, a dozen manufacturers, and a legacy spanning more than a century all converge on the Circuit de la Sarthe for the crown jewel of endurance racing.

With three rounds of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship behind us, the picture coming into Le Mans is clearer than in recent years — but Test Day always adds another layer of intrigue. Ferrari and Toyota once again find themselves at the sharp end, joined by an increasingly threatening Alpine outfit and a closely-matched chasing pack of Porsches, Cadillacs, BMWs and Peugeots. But as always at Le Mans, outright pace is only part of the story. Test day is behind us, time to look forward to the race.

Balance of Performance: Advantage Ferrari?

The conversation around Balance of Performance is as alive as ever, especially with so many Hypercar manufacturers now in the mix. For Le Mans, the FIA and ACO have issued a new BoP table, aiming to close the gaps seen in Spa and Imola. But it’s not without controversy.

Ferrari, winners of the last two Le Mans and unbeaten so far this season, arrive with momentum and experience. The #51 AF Corse 499P was second quickest in the Test Day with a 3:26.777, just over half a second shy of Toyota’s Brendon Hartley in the #8 GR010 Hybrid — the only car to dip below last year’s Hyperpole time with a 3:26.246. Toyota has often come alive at Le Mans regardless of form, and even with a performance weight increase, they remain ominously strong.

But the margin between the manufacturers was tighter than ever. Alpine showed genuine promise with Schumacher’s 3:27.313 good enough for third, while Porsche had two cars in the top six. BMW briefly impressed before reliability issues stopped their charge, while Cadillac and Peugeot kept a lower profile. How much of that was strategic is anyone’s guess.

The LMGT3 category saw a dominant performance from the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F, topping both sessions and beating last year’s best Test Day time by nearly five seconds. The Ferraris — particularly the #21 Vista AF Corse and #57 Kessel Racing cars — followed closely behind, with the pace of the new GT3 platform already shattering 2024 benchmarks.

In LMP2, United Autosports’ #22 Oreca led the way, setting the pace early and holding it throughout. They were followed by two Pro-Am entries: the #29 TDS Racing car and ‘Spike’ — the #199 AO by TF entry.

But Test Day rarely tells the full story

As always, Test Day times should be taken with a grain of salt. This is Le Mans, and nothing is ever that straightforward. Teams are known to “sandbag” — deliberately concealing their full performance potential. Whether it’s running heavier fuel loads, opting for harder tyres, or simply hiding their true pace, there's a game of shadows at play in these early sessions.

Still, if anyone has revealed enough to make a case, it’s Ferrari. With wins at Qatar, Imola, and Spa already in the bag, the Scuderia carries confidence, consistency, and perhaps a touch of destiny into race week. But Toyota’s Test Day form — and their unmatched Le Mans pedigree in the Hypercar era — means it would be foolish to rule them out.

Other things to look forward to

While lap times and BoP debates dominate the headlines, there’s also plenty of visual flair on the 2025 grid. A few liveries in particular have turned heads this week:

Perhaps the biggest eyecatcher is Toyota's bold retro-inspired livery commemorating their 25th year at Le Mans, with the #7 GR010 in a stunning red paint scheme inspired by the late nineties' GR020 (better known as the GT ONE).

Manthey EMA’s fields an extra 911 at Le Mans, the #93, with a nice blue livery.

The #93 is not the only Porsche in a special livery, for the occassion the #85 of the Iron Dames also changed colors.

Iron Lynx painted all their three Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo's in silver: an hommage to the iconic Sauber Mercedes C9 of the early nineties.

The pieces are in place, the contenders are circling, and the story is ready to unfold. Ferrari might be the team to beat, and Toyota may well be their closest rival once again — but at Le Mans, nothing ever goes to script.

Let the week begin.