Track activities at the Sarthe circuit kicked off with Test Day, during which the crews racing in the Centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans could take to the asphalt of the historic French track. In the LMGTE Am class for production-based cars, the Ferrari 488s finished both sessions with the fastest time on the 13.626-kilometre French track.
In the morning, JMW Motorsport team’s number 66 Ferrari was quickest, posting 3’56”623, with Louis Prette at the wheel. Ulysse de Pauw was second, 0”128 seconds behind in AF Corse’s 488 GTE number 21. Ferrari official driver Daniel Serra came fourth in Kessel Racing’s number 57 car. In the afternoon, JMW Motorsport maintained the lead with a time of 3’56”088, just 0”096 ahead of the number 54 Ferrari of AF Corse in second and 0”193 in front of the number 57 Ferrari of Kessel Racing in third.
The Test Day also featured the Ferraris of Richard Mille – AF Corse, crewed by Maranello official drivers Lilou Wadoux and Alessio Rovera, alongside Louis Perez Companc, and the 488 GTE number 74 of Kessel Racing and the number 100 of Walkenhorst Motorsport, the latter only competing in the Le Mans round.
At the close of day, the drivers and cars of all the teams competing in the race with Ferrari 488 GTEs posed for the traditional group photo, taken at one of the most iconic sections of the Le Mans circuit: the Virage du raccordement, the “S” curve that leads onto the home straight.