Le Mans 24h: Toyota secures front row lockout
Toyota secured a front row lockout after final qualifying with its pair of TS050 Hybrids for the Le Mans 24 Hours, as its privateer rivals failed to best its times from the earlier session.
Photo by: motosport.com
Kamui Kobayashi's best time from second qualifying in the #7 Toyota, a 3m15.497s, went unbeaten in the final two-hour session, as neither of the TS050 Hybrids improved on their earlier efforts.
It gives the Japanese driver, who shares the #7 machine with Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez, a second pole at La Sarthe in three years.
Kazuki Nakajima set the quickest time in the #8 Toyota of 3m15.908s, 0.411s shy of Kobayashi.
Both of SMP Racing's AER-powered BR Engineering BR1s set new personal bests in the early stages of final qualifying, narrowing the gap slightly to the two Toyotas.
Egor Orudzhev secured third on the grid in the #17 car with a 3m16.159s, going seven tenths clear of the #11 car of Stoffel Vandoorne but still 0.682s shy of Kobayashi's benchmark.
Rebellion denied privateer LMP1 rival SMP a second-row lockout however when Gustavo Menezes posted a 3m16.404s in the #3 R-13-Gibson after a red flag delay caused by the #1 car.
Bruno Senna was at the wheel of the #1 when it suffered an engine blow-up before parking up at Arnage and causing a delay of some 15 minutes. Andre Lotterer had earlier improved the car's best time to a 3m16.810s, two tenths behind the second SMP car.
DragonSpeed's Gulf-liveried BR1 will start seventh thanks to Ben Hanley's time in first qualifying, which was 4.703s off the pace but still 2.9s up on the ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01.
LMP2: Graff edges TDS for pole
The French Graff squad came out on top in the battle for LMP2 class honours, as Tristan Gommendy edged out TDS Racing rival Loic Duval.
Gommendy set a best lap of 3m25.073s to lead an all-Oreca top six in the Michelin-shod #39 car, beating Duval's Dunlop-shod #28 machine by 0.272s and Pastor Maldonado in the #31 DragonSpeed car, also on Michelins, by 0.594s.
#39 Graff Racing S24 Oreca 07 Gibson: Vincent Capillaire, Jonathan Hirschi, Tristan Gommendy
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Nicolas Lapierre left it until the dying moments of the session to move up to fourth in the FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 points-leading Signatech Alpine, ahead of the #48 IDEC Sport car, of Paul-Loup Chatin and the G-Drive Aurus-branded Oreca driven by Jean-Eric Vergne.
Best of the non-Orecas was once again the #22 United Autosports Ligier in seventh.
GTE: Aston Martin beats Ford, Corvette
Aston Martin secured pole in the GTE Pro class ahead of Ford, Corvette and Porsche.
Marco Sorensen was at the wheel of the #95 Vantage GTE for a lap of 3m48.000s, which was enough to beat Harry Tincknell in the #67 Ford GT by just 0.112s and Antonio Garcia in the #63 Corvette C7.R by 0.830s.
#95 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR: Marco Sorensen, Nicki Thiim, Darren Turner
Photo by: Marc Fleury
The best of the Porsche 911 RSRs was one of the CORE autosport-run IMSA cars, the #93 machine of Nick Tandy in fourth, which had been third until Garcia's last-gasp improvement.
BMW made it five different manufacturers in the top five thanks to Augusto Farfus's best lap in the #82 M8 GTE, but the sister machine was left down in 16th after Nicky Catsburg crashed at the Ford chicane.
Ferrari's top representative was the #71 488 GTE of Sam Bird in eighth, behind the #66 Ford GT of late improver Dirk Muller and the WEC points-leading #92 Porsche driven by Michael Christensen.
Porsche locked out the top three places in GTE Am, with Matteo Cairoli clinching pole for the #88 Dempsey-Proton car with a best time of 3m51.439s.
Matt Campbell was around two tenths slower in the sister #77 car, while Thomas Preining made a late move up to third in the #86 Gulf Racing Porsche, demoting the best of the Ferraris, the #84 JMW Motorsport car.
Qualifying results:
Cla | # | Drivers | Car | Class | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 17 |
Stéphane Sarrazin
Egor Orudzhev Sergey Sirotkin |
BR Engineering BR1 | LMP1 | 3'16.159 | |
2 | 3 |
Thomas Laurent
Nathanael Berthon Gustavo Menezes |
Rebellion R13 | LMP1 | 3'16.404 | 0.245 |
3 | 11 |
Vitaly Petrov
Mikhail Aleshin Stoffel Vandoorne |
BR Engineering BR1 | LMP1 | 3'16.665 | 0.506 |
4 | 1 |
Neel Jani
Andre Lotterer Bruno Senna |
Rebellion R13 | LMP1 | 3'16.810 | 0.651 |
5 | 7 |
Mike Conway
Kamui Kobayashi Jose Maria Lopez |
Toyota TS050 Hybrid | LMP1 | 3'20.494 | 4.335 |
6 | 8 |
Sébastien Buemi
Kazuki Nakajima Fernando Alonso |
Toyota TS050 Hybrid | LMP1 | 3'20.669 | 4.510 |
7 | 4 |
Tom Dillmann
Oliver Webb Paolo Ruberti |
ENSO CLM P1/01 | LMP1 | 3'23.109 | 6.950 |
8 | 39 |
Tristan Gommendy
Vincent Capillaire Jonathan Hirschi |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'25.073 | 8.914 |
9 | 28 |
François Perrodo
Matthieu Vaxiviere Loic Duval |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'25.345 | 9.186 |
10 | 31 |
Roberto Gonzalez
Pastor Maldonado Anthony Davidson |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'25.667 | 9.508 |
11 | 36 |
Nicolas Lapierre
Andre Negrao Pierre Thiriet |
Alpine A470 | LMP2 | 3'25.874 | 9.715 |
12 | 10 |
Henrik Hedman
Ben Hanley Renger van der Zande |
BR Engineering BR1 | LMP1 | 3'25.902 | 9.743 |
13 | 48 |
Paul Lafargue
Paul-Loup Chatin Memo Rojas |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'26.011 | 9.852 |
14 | 26 |
Roman Rusinov
Job Van Uitert Jean-Eric Vergne |
Aurus 01 | LMP2 | 3'26.257 | 10.098 |
15 | 22 |
Philip Hanson
Filipe Albuquerque Paul di Resta |
Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'26.543 | 10.384 |
16 | 29 |
Frits van Eerd
Giedo van der Garde Nyck de Vries |
Dallara P217 | LMP2 | 3'27.384 | 11.225 |
17 | 32 |
Ryan Cullen
Alex Brundle |
Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'27.509 | 11.350 |
18 | 20 |
Anders Fjordbach
Dennis Andersen Mathias Beche |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'27.610 | 11.451 |
19 | 38 |
Ho-Pin Tung
Stéphane Richelmi Gabriel Aubry |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'27.779 | 11.620 |
20 | 37 |
David Heinemeier Hansson
Jordan King Ricky Taylor |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.049 | 11.890 |
21 | 30 |
Nico Jamin
Pierre Ragues Romain Dumas |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.195 | 12.036 |
22 | 43 |
John Farano
Arjun Maini Norman Nato |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.803 | 12.644 |
23 | 47 |
Roberto Lacorte
Giorgio Sernagiotto Andrea Belicchi |
Dallara P217 | LMP2 | 3'29.556 | 13.397 |
24 | 25 |
David Zollinger
Andrea Pizzitola John Falb |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'31.113 | 14.954 |
25 | 34 |
Jakub Smiechowski
James Winslow Nigel Moore |
Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'31.491 | 15.332 |
26 | 23 |
Rene Binder
Julien Canal Will Stevens |
Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'32.511 | 16.352 |
27 | 49 |
Miro Konopka
Henning Enqvist Konstantin Tereshchenko |
Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'34.146 | 17.987 |
28 | 50 |
Erwin Creed
Romano Ricci Nicholas Boulle |
Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'34.913 | 18.754 |
29 | 95 |
Marco Sorensen
Nicki Thiim Darren Turner |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE PRO | 3'48.000 | 31.841 |
30 | 67 |
Andy Priaulx
Harry Tincknell Jonathan Bomarito |
Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'48.112 | 31.953 |
31 | 63 |
Jan Magnussen
Antonio Garcia Mike Rockenfeller |
Chevrolet Corvette C7R | LMGTE PRO | 3'48.830 | 32.671 |
32 | 93 |
Patrick Pilet
Earl Bamber Nick Tandy |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'48.907 | 32.748 |
33 | 82 |
Augusto Farfus
Antonio Felix da Costa Jesse Krohn |
BMW M8 GTE | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.108 | 32.949 |
34 | 68 |
Joey Hand
Dirk Muller Sébastien Bourdais |
Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.116 | 32.957 |
35 | 92 |
Michael Christensen
Kevin Estre Laurens Vanthoor |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.196 | 33.037 |
36 | 71 |
Davide Rigon
Sam Bird Miguel Molina |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.391 | 33.232 |
37 | 66 |
Stefan Mücke
Olivier Pla Billy Johnson |
Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.511 | 33.352 |
38 | 69 |
Ryan Briscoe
Richard Westbrook Scott Dixon |
Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.546 | 33.387 |
39 | 64 |
Oliver Gavin
Tommy Milner Marcel Fassler |
Chevrolet Corvette C7R | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.573 | 33.414 |
40 | 51 |
Alessandro Pier Guidi
James Calado Daniel Serra |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.655 | 33.496 |
41 | 97 |
Alex Lynn
Maxime Martin Jonathan Adam |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE PRO | 3'50.383 | 34.224 |
42 | 94 |
Sven Muller
Mathieu Jaminet Dennis Olsen |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'50.593 | 34.434 |
43 | 91 |
Gianmaria Bruni
Richard Lietz Frédéric Makowiecki |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'51.039 | 34.880 |
44 | 88 |
Satoshi Hoshino
Giorgio Roda Matteo Cairoli |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'51.439 | 35.280 |
45 | 89 |
Pipo Derani
Oliver Jarvis Jules Gounon |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 3'51.454 | 35.295 |
46 | 77 |
Matt Campbell
Christian Ried Julien Andlauer |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'51.645 | 35.486 |
47 | 86 |
Michael Wainwright
Benjamin Barker Thomas Preining |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'51.944 | 35.785 |
48 | 84 |
Jeff Segal
Rodrigo Baptista Wei Lu |
Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'52.423 | 36.264 |
49 | 78 |
Louis Prette
Philippe Prette Vincent Abril |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'52.434 | 36.275 |
50 | 54 |
Thomas Flohr
Francesco Castellacci Giancarlo Fisichella |
Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'52.879 | 36.720 |
51 | 56 |
Jörg Bergmeister
Patrick Lindsey Egidio Perfetti |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'53.135 | 36.976 |
52 | 60 |
Claudio Schiavoni
Andrea Piccini Sergio Pianezzola |
Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'53.528 | 37.369 |
53 | 90 |
Salih Yoluc
Euan Hankey Charles Eastwood |
Aston Martin Vantage | LMGTE AM | 3'53.606 | 37.447 |
54 | 62 |
Cooper MacNeil
Toni Vilander Robert Smith |
Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'53.630 | 37.471 |
55 | 98 |
Paul Dalla Lana
Pedro Lamy Mathias Lauda |
Aston Martin Vantage | LMGTE AM | 3'53.698 | 37.539 |
56 | 70 |
Motoaki Ishikawa
Olivier Beretta Eddie Cheever III |
Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'54.051 | 37.892 |
57 | 83 |
Manuela Gostner
Rahel Frey Michelle Gatting |
Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'54.083 | 37.924 |
58 | 61 |
Luis Perez Companc
Matthew Griffin Matteo Cressoni |
Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'54.240 | 38.081 |
59 | 85 |
Ben Keating
Jeroen Bleekemolen Felipe Fraga |
Ford GT | LMGTE AM | 3'54.815 | 38.656 |
60 | 57 |
Takeshi Kimura
Kei Cozzolino Côme Ledogar |
Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'54.928 | 38.769 |
61 | 81 |
Nick Catsburg
Martin Tomczyk Philipp Eng |
BMW M8 GTE | LMGTE PRO | ||
62 | 99 |
Tracy Krohn
Nic Jönsson Patrick Long |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | ||
View full results |
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