Mark Cavendish will give the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday afternoon, and the grid that stretches behind him delivers an immediate storyline: BMW’s No. 15 car will start from pole while traditional frontrunners Ferrari and Toyota sit far deeper on the order than many expected.
The 94th edition of Le Mansfields entries from 14 manufacturers and 186 drivers and arrives as the third round of the 2026 World Endurance Championship. BMW’s No. 15 — driven by Kevin Magnussen, Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello — claimed pole after a spring that included the marque’s win at the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in May; BMW’s only Le Mans victory to date came in 1999.
Friday’s grid shows Cadillac lining up as the nearest threat on paper. Cadillac cars will start second, fifth and 10th; the manufacturer’s No. 38 car actually set the fastest qualifying time before a penalty dropped it to 10th. That No. 38 entry is driven in part by Sébastien Bourdais.
By contrast, Toyota’s cars will start 14th and 15th, and Ferrari’s defending-winning No. 83 AF Corse car will start 17th. Ferrari’s factory entries are on the third and fourth rows in eighth and 12th. Alpine’s single entry begins third. Peugeot, meanwhile, is buried far back in the field. The grid underlines a simple tension: qualifying order gives BMW and Cadillac the advantage on paper, but the two marques that have shared the WEC and Le Mans crowns since 2018 are unusually low down — and rivals suspect some teams hid race pace during qualifying to spring a surprise over 24 hours.
Practically speaking, the race will get under way at 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Saturday, 13 June 2026, with sunny weather forecast and heat building toward about 30°C in the afternoon. The field will tackle the 24-hour marathon on the 13.6-kilometre circuit, where strategy, reliability and night running typically matter far more than pole position.
What to watch when the flag drops: BMW’s No. 15 will try to convert pole into track position through the opening hours; Cadillac’s trio of starters will be a test of pace and race management after the No. 38’s qualifying penalty; Alpine’s third-place starter will be tasked with keeping pressure on the front-runners; and Ferrari and Toyota must show whether their low grid positions were disguise or a handicap. The length of the race and changing light and temperature will be decisive factors.
Mark Cavendish’s ceremonial role closes the immediate pre-race chapter, but it does not answer the central question the grid raises: will BMW’s pole and Cadillac’s raw speed be enough to displace the manufacturers that have dominated since 2018, or will Ferrari and Toyota — suspected of masking pace in qualifying — overturn the order over 24 hours? The answer will come only as the race unfolds from 16:00 local on Saturday.
