Toyota Gazoo Racing will have the whole first row for themselves, when the 24 hours of Le Mans starts on Saturday at three o’clock.
The Japanese constructor with two Japanese drivers behind the wheel set the Pole Position time in the second qualifying, with Kamui Kobayashi in the number 7 car, before Kazuki Nakajima in #8 set the second fastest time in the third qualifying session. As we previously mentioned, the average speed on the Pole Position lap is the fastest ever at Le Mans.
Porsche #1 will start in third position, in front of their sister car #2. Toyota #9 couldn’t keep up with their teammates and thus only set the fifth best time.
ByKolles Racing Team #4 was faster than the LMP2 field and will start in sixth.
G-Drive Racing #26 was fastest in the LMP2 class, in front of CEFC Manor TRS Racing #25 and Jackie Chan DC Racing #38. David Heinemeier Hansson and Vaillante Rebellion #13 drove fifth quickest time, and only beaten by a fraction by their teammates in car #31. Cetilar Villorba Corse #47 was unlucky to get a puncture in the last half an hour of the qualifying, which made it impossible for them to finish the session higher than 18th in LMP2.
In GTE Pro we saw a fantastic duel between all the brands, who took turn to drive faster and faster. It ended with Aston Martin Racing #97 took Pole Position, in front of AF Corse Ferrari #51 and Aston Martin Racing #95. It was Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim’s teammate, Richie Stanaway, who sat the time in the #95. Jan Magnussen and Corvette Racing #63 will start from sixth position, followed by Michael Christensen in Porsche #92.
Corvette, however, snatched Pole Position in GTE Am in the form of Larbre Competition #50, who drove a fantastic laptime with Fernando Rees behind the wheel. They were almost half a second faster than Aston Martin Racing #98 in second position, followed by Scuderia Corsa Ferrari #62 in third. Christina Nielsen and Scuderia Corsa Ferrari #65 had a oil spill on the car, after one of the drivers drove too hard on the curb. It resulted in a long repair time, so unfortunately they have to start from the last position.
On Friday all the cars will stay still, since it won’t be before Saturday morning at nine o’clock that the wheels will roll again for the Warm Up.