'Unbelievable' - Cadillac see lap time controversially deleted while celebrating on podium as BMW awarded pole position at 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Earl Bamber said he was "disgusted" after Cadillac saw their fastest lap time deleted from Hyperpole 2 while celebrating what they thought was pole position on the podium at 24 Hours of Le Mans.

'Disgusting!' - Bamber fumes as Cadillac lap time deleted, BMW awarded pole position

Video credit: TNT Sports

Cycling great Mark Cavendish handed out the medals, but it was soon announced that Cadillac had released their car too early from the pit lane and had received a penalty.

The stewards’ bulletin that confirmed the penalty said: "The driver failed to follow the race director's instructions by leaving the working lane to join the fast lane before being authorised to do so."

Cadillac's Jack Aitken had gone fastest ahead of BMW's Dries Vanthoor, appearing to snatch pole by 0.005s on his final flying lap.

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But the celebrations were cut short, with Cadillac dropping to 10th place following the penalty and BMW taking pole.

"It's being explained to them right now," said TNT Sports' commentator as Vanthoor and his team-mates were given the news. "This is unbelievable."

"The moment has just sunk in for Dries Vanthoor. It is BMW with their first pole position now at Le Mans, and a fifth different manufacturer on pole outright in five consecutive years.

"If you're celebrating to this level, it's gutting to now have it taken away from you."

Cavendish hands out medals to Cadillac - who are later disqualified

Video credit: TNT Sports

Aitken's car was released from its pit stall four minutes before the Hyperpole 2 session was due to begin, but teams had been instructed that cars could only enter the fast lane three minutes prior to the start time.

Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA principal Dieter Gass insisted the breach was unintentional.

"The software we and the rest of the paddock uses was clearly wrong," he told Motorsport. "It is linked to race control’s timing, so how it could be wrong, we don’t know. In theory, what we did was correct because it was showing three minutes."

He added: "We gained nothing, so that makes it all the more difficult to accept."

Elsewhere, Alpine finished fourth after going quickest in qualifying on Thursday, while the leading Ferrari car placed ninth.

The Heart of Racing Team, in their Aston Martin Vantage, took second, with two Lexus cars in third and fourth.

How to watch and live stream 24 Hours of Le Mans

You can watch all the action from 24 Hours of Le Mans, including Saturday's race, live on TNT Sports.

It will be available to stream both live and on-demand on HBO Max.

How does 24 Hours of Le Mans work?

The race itself is simple: race continuously over a 24-hour period and the team (each made up of three drivers) that covers the most distance over the course of the race will win.

No driver can race for more than 14 hours in total and there are three different classes of cars: Hypercar, LMP2 and LMGT3. The Hypercars are the fastest cars in endurance racing.

Grid positions for 24 Hours of Le Mans are decided across three qualifying sessions (qualifying, Hyperpole 1, and Hyperpole 2).

24 Hours of Le Mans schedule (All times UK)

Saturday, June 13

11:00 - Warm-up

15:00 - 24 Hours of Le Mans starts

Sunday, June 14

15:00 - 24 Hours of Le Mans finishes

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