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WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans
Audi unfazed by Porsche's qualifying pace
Porsche looks poised to take pole position and Audi seems fairly content with letting them have it.
Nick DeGroot
Edited: Jun 11, 2015, 12:50 AM
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After Wednesday's qualifying session, Porsche holds a firm grip on the Le Mans pole with all three of their LMP1 entries taking the top three positions on the time sheets. Audi remains their closest competition, but was still 2.979 seconds back of the leading Porsche.
Audi focused on the victory
The apparent gap between the German cousins is of no surprise to Audi though. In fact, Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich told Motorsport.com that Audi isn't even focusing on the pole because, at the end of the weekend, the 24 hour race is the real prize.
Audi pilot Loic Duval isn't fazed by the pace their rivals either. "With the hybrid system, they have been really quick for a single lap so I believe it's going to be the same here," Duval explained to Motorsport.com. "I do think they will be on pole. But for sure, the target here is not to win the pole, but to take the victory."
Porsche doubt they have it in the bag
Porsche drivers, although confident in their chances, are a bit skeptical of how hopeless Audi is saying their shot at pole really is.
"You know (Audi) said at Spa that they had no chance but in the end, they were four tenths back," commented Neel Jani. "I think they can't rule themselves out so quickly. They know that, they are just playing I think. We count on them to challenge us and in the race, they will be there.
"That may be what they say to the media," added teammate Brendon Hartley. "In testing, it was very close. In the end, none of us are really focused on pole time. I'm sure (Audi) are going to put up a big fight."
Romain Dumas, who won the race overall with Audi in 2010, posed the question, "How many year did (Audi) win Le Mans without having pole position?
"To have pole position at Le Mans is good for the show, for the press, for the TV, but after few minutes - nobody remembers who was on pole."
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