After rain interrupted the earlier Free Practice session the first of three qualifying sessions for the 84th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was dry and there was only one short stop to retrieve a stranded Ferrari. 

Fifty-nine of the sixty cars were on track for the drivers to complete their night laps.  The No.4 ByKolles Racing Team car is still undergoing repairs after its earlier fire, while the No.13 out-qualified the sister Rebellion Racing LMP1 privateer by 0.76 seconds.

Porsche claim provisional pole position in the first qualifying session for the 84th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 3rd round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.  Neel Jani set the fastest time of the week so far with a 3:19.733 in the No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid, leading a 1-2 for the German World Champions.

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s TS050 HYBRIDS were in third and fourth place, the No.6 of Stephane Sarrazin stopping the clocks at 3:20.737 with the No.5 over a second further behind.
The Audi R18s had a more troubled first qualifying session than their competitors, with the No.8 not getting out on track until near the end of the first hour.  Lucas di Grassi edged his team mate in the No.7 car by just three tenths of a second.

The FIA WEC cars proved to be the ones to beat in LMP2, with René Rast setting the pace in the No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 05 Nissan.  His best lap of 3:36.605 was the only one to dip below 3m37 but the two Alpines of Baxi DC Racing and Signatech Alpine were extremely close behind.  Fourth in class, on its debut at Le Mans was the No.44 Manor ORECA of Roberto Merhi.

There were two classes of LMGTE Pro on track tonight – the Fords and Ferraris against the Porsches, Aston Martins and Corvettes.  Ford Chip Ganassi Racing took 1-2 in class, with Gimmi Bruni in the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari lodging himself between the two American and two British Ford GTs.  Four tenths of a second split the first four, but they were three or four seconds faster than the others in class.   There’s an impressive battle to come!

Aston Martin Racing upheld the WEC’s honour in the LMGTE Am category, second in class behind the Clearwater Racing Ferrari from the Asian Le Mans Series. Very close behind was the No.83 AF Corse Ferrari of Emmanuel Collard, the most experienced Le Mans driver in the race.