It is the first pole position ever for a Japanese driver, and Nakajima’s lap time of 3:21.789 in the No.7 Toyota TS040 Hybrid is a new qualifying lap record for hybrid-powered cars.  It looked at one stage as though it would be a Toyota front row lock out, but Romain Dumas in the No.14 Porsche 919 Hybrid put in a fast lap time of 3:22.146, putting the German team – making its return to top line sportscar racing this year – on the front row of the grid.  Third in class was the No.8 TS040 Hybrid, four tenths of a second ahead of the No.20 Porsche which had held provisional pole position up until this evening.

 

Audi Sport Team Joest’s well-drilled team completely re-built the No.1 R18 e-tron quattro following Loïc Duval’s accident yesterday and all three of its cars were on track during both the evening’s qualifying sessions.   Also on track and running without issues were the two Rebellion R-Ones in the LMP1-L sub-category, the No.12 Toyota-engined prototype qualifying two seconds ahead of the No.13 sister car.

 

In LMP2 the ELMS points leader Thiriet by TDS Racing claimed a first ever pole position for the new Ligier JS P2, the No.46 in the hands of Tristan Gommendy.  Another ELMS entrant, JOTA Sport’s Zytek,  will start alongside the Ligier and just ahead of OAK Racing’s Ligier JS P2 HPD.  First of the FIA World Endurance Championship runners was the No.26 G-Drive Racing Morgan Nissan of Olivier Pla, his fastest lap of 3:38.000 just four tenths of a second behind the class pole.

 

The new ‘slow zone’ system was successfully deployed during the 150 minute night session, during which drivers were required to complete a minimum of three laps to qualify for the race, as several cars exited the track.  

 

AF Corse claimed a double pole position in LMGTE – Gianmaria Bruni doing the honours in the Pro class in the No.51 Ferrari 458 Italia.  The Italian’s best lap of 3:53.700 was a full second ahead of the second-placed car in the class, and was some compensation to the team for the distress of seeing the No.71 sister car crash heavily out of the session (full story HERE).  Third in class was the No.97 Aston Martin Vantage V8 of Stefan Mücke with a best lap of 3:54.891.

 

Ahead of second placed Pro car, the No.73 Corvette, was the LMGTE Am AF Corse entry of Sam Bird.  The British driver of the No.81 Ferrari 458 Italia recorded a superb lap time of 3:54.665 to put him another full second ahead of the No.98 Aston Martin Vantage which claimed second in class.  The British marque also claimed third, the Danish crewed No.95 Vantage V8.

 

Unlike other rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the qualifying format for the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a one-lap, one driver, shoot-out and not an aggregated time.  The grid is now set for the third round of the FIA WEC, and teams will use tomorrow (Friday) to prepare for the race as there is no track action.

 

The 55 cars will next be on track at 09h00 Saturday morning for a 45-minute warm up, with the start of the race due to be given by Ferrari F1 star Fernando Alonso at 15h00 on Saturday.

 

 

 

Fiona Miller