The Qualifying for the 24 Hours of Le Mans was run this afternoon.
Ther rules for qualifying has changed this year, so the teams only have 45 minutes to post a time. Top 6 from each category will advance to Hyperpole, which will be run tomorrow, Friday.
Two cars we wouldn’t see in the qualifying was both IDEC Sport cars. They had each their own big shunt in FP2, so the mechanics are working overtime to get them running again.
Toyota Gazoo Racing #7 was the first LMP1 car to post a fast lap, followed by the sister car #8, and ByKolles Racing Team #4, while Rebellion was further down the field.
Jackie Chan DC Racing #37 was fastest in LMP2, after their first flying lap, followed by United Autosports #22. G-Drive Racing #26 was in third and High Class Racing #33 was P4.
GTE Pro had AMR #95 fastest ahead of their teammates #97.
Photo: JJ Media
AMR #98 was initially fastest in GTE Am, ahead of brand colleagues TF Sport #90.
Rebellion Racing started to post fast laps, and was third fastest with #1, while #3 still was behind ByKolles Racing Team #4.
Racing Team Nederland #29 jumped into third in LMP2.
AF Corse was getting into the danger zone in GTE Pro, since they were getting their behinds kicked by the American Ferrari visitors WeatherTech Racing #63 and Risi Competizione #82. So they had to push extra hard to get into Hyperpole.
Racing Team Nederland #29 jumped P1 in LMP2.
Photo: JJ Media
With 57 cars running, it was an extremely busy track. That cost Juan Pablo Montoya in DragonSpeed #21 loads of time, since he all of a sudden had a pass a slow Toyota, at the exit of the Porsche Curves.
Team Project 1 Porsche #57 was about to throw it all away, when Felipe Fraga got his wheels over the exit curb towards Tertre Rouge, and brushed the Armco, but thankfully not more than that.
With 7 minutes left of the session, G-Drive Racing #26 jumped into the LMP2 lead. That time was however disallowed due to Track Limits, which was just one of many infringements.
AF Corse finally woke up and posted third fastest time in GTE Pro – a time that they were allowed to keep.
JOTA #38 grabbed 6th with just a few minutes left, pushing G-Drive Racing by Algarve #16 out of top-6.
Signatech Alpine Elf #36 tried to get into top-6, but Thomas Laurent was pushing a bit too hard, so he had a trip through the gravel in the Ford Chicane – and thereby no improvement.
Photo: JJ Media
United Autosports #32 jumped into top-6 at the very last try, pushing JOTA #38 out of the first six positions.
The end results in LMP1 were – Toyota Gazoo Racing #7, ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing #8, Rebellion Racing #1, ByKolles Racing Team #4 and Rebellion Racing #3 in LMP1.
LMP2 top-6 was Racing Team Nederland #29, Jackie Chan DC Racing #37, United Autosports #22, G-Drive Racing #26, United Autosports #32 and High Class Racing #33.
Aston Martin Racing #95 was fastest in GTE Pro, ahead of Aston Martin Racing #97, AF Corse Ferrari #51, AF Corse Ferrari #71, Porsche #91 and Porsche #92. So both the American Ferrari’s from WeatherTech Racing #63 and Risi Competizione #82 ended up outside the first six positions.
Photo: JJ Media
Aston Martin Racing also had a 1-2 in GTE Am with #98, ahead of TF Sport #90, while Gulf Racing, Porsche #86, Luzich Racing Ferrari #61, Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche #77 and Team Project 1 Porsche #56 are the final teams advancing into Hyperpole.
FP3 will be run tonight at 20.00, where all the drivers are mandated to be in the car, to be eligible for the race. If not, they will have to ask for an exception to run in the race anyway.
