Le Mans 24h: Toyota sweeps front row in second qualifying
Toyota swept the top two positions in Thursday night's second qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours, establishing a buffer of 1.4 seconds over the best of the privateer LMP1s.
Kamui Kobayashi was again the fastest driver at the wheel of the #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, setting a time of 3m15.497s on his first flying lap to come within just over a tenth of last year's pole time at La Sarthe - and beat Kazuki Nakajima in the #8 Toyota by 0.411s.
SMP Racing, whose lead BR Engineering BR1 was second-fastest in Thursday night's first qualifying, was again Toyota's closest challenger, with Mikhail Aleshin setting the Russian outfit's best time of 3m16.953s - 1.456s adrift of Kobayashi's benchmark.
Rebellion Racing's #1 car, which had its Wednesday times scrubbed for a fuel flow meter infringement, recovered to fourth thanks to a 3m17.317s effort by Neel Jani following a 25-minute red flag period.
That was caused by the other Rebellion R-13, the #3 of Thomas Laurent, dumping fluid on the track along the latter part of the Mulsanne straight before stopping just beyond Mulsanne corner.
The #3 car, which didn't return to the track, provisionally qualified sixth in the hands of Laurent behind the second of the SMP BR1s, the #17 of Stephane Sarrazin.
DragonSpeed's customer BR1 and the ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01 completed the LMP1 order, Tom Dillmann finding two seconds on his Wednesday time but remaining eighth.
LMP2: Maldonado keeps DragonSpeed on top
LMP2 continues to be led by DragonSpeed after another flyer from ex-Formula 1 racer Pastor Maldonado at the wheel of the #31 Oreca.
Maldonado turned a 3m26.490s at the start of the session to take the top spot, just over three tenths ahead of the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca of Stephane Richelmi.
#31 Dragonspeed Oreca 07: Roberto Gonzalez, Pastor Maldonado, Anthony Davidson
Photo by: Paul Foster
Signatech Alpine's #36 Oreca did not set a better time, with Nicolas Lapierre's Wednesday effort remaining good enough for third ahead of the TDS Racing Oreca and the Racing Team Nederland Dallara.
The top Ligier, the #22 United Autosports car, did not improve either and was shuffled down to sixth.
GTE: Porsche snatches back pole from Ford
Porsche retook provisional pole in GTE Pro thanks to a late effort by Michael Christensen in the #92 911 RSR of 3m49.388s in the closing stages of the session.
#92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR: Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
Antonio Garcia - fastest on Wednesday night until his best time in the #63 Corvette C7.R was scrubbed - came within 0.036s of Christensen's time late on, becoming the only other driver to better Harry Tincknell's first qualifying benchmark in the #67 Ford GT.
Tincknell's time of 3m49.530s remained enough for third, ahead of the #93 Porsche which likewise did not improve, while the #91 Porsche slipped one place to fifth despite a late improvement by Gianmaria Bruni.
The best of the Aston Martins slipped from third to sixth on the provisional grid, ahead of the #94 Porsche, the #69 and #68 Fords and the top Ferrari, the #71 car.
BMW was therefore the only manufacturer to end up outside the top 10 in class, the two MTEK-run M8 GTEs ending up 14th and 16th.
The top two times in GTE Am remain the same as on Wednesday, with Matteo Cairoli's best lap in the #88 Dempsey-Proton Porsche not being bettered.
Giancarlo Fisichella was the highest-profile improver, moving up to third place in the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari, behind the #56 Project 1 Porsche.
Session results (Q1, Q2 combined):
| Cla | # | Drivers | Car | Class | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 |  Mike Conway  Kamui Kobayashi  Jose Maria Lopez | Toyota TS050 Hybrid | LMP1 | 3'15.497 | |
| 2 | 8 |  Sébastien Buemi Kazuki Nakajima  Fernando Alonso | Toyota TS050 Hybrid | LMP1 | 3'15.908 | 0.411 |
| 3 | 11 |  Vitaly Petrov Mikhail Aleshin  Stoffel Vandoorne | BR Engineering BR1 | LMP1 | 3'16.953 | 1.456 |
| 4 | 1 | Neel Jani  Andre Lotterer  Bruno Senna | Rebellion R13 | LMP1 | 3'17.313 | 1.816 |
| 5 | 17 |  Stéphane Sarrazin Egor Orudzhev Sergey Sirotkin | BR Engineering BR1 | LMP1 | 3'17.437 | 1.940 |
| 6 | 3 | Thomas Laurent Nathanael Berthon  Gustavo Menezes | Rebellion R13 | LMP1 | 3'18.884 | 3.387 |
| 7 | 10 |  Henrik Hedman Ben Hanley  Renger van der Zande | BR Engineering BR1 | LMP1 | 3'20.200 | 4.703 |
| 8 | 4 | Tom Dillmann Oliver Webb  Paolo Ruberti | ENSO CLM P1/01 | LMP1 | 3'23.726 | 8.229 |
| 9 | 31 |  Roberto Gonzalez  Pastor Maldonado Anthony Davidson | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'26.490 | 10.993 |
| 10 | 38 |  Ho-Pin Tung  Stéphane Richelmi Gabriel Aubry | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'26.821 | 11.324 |
| 11 | 36 | Nicolas Lapierre Andre Negrao Pierre Thiriet | Alpine A470 | LMP2 | 3'26.935 | 11.438 |
| 12 | 28 | François Perrodo Matthieu Vaxiviere Loic Duval | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'27.096 | 11.599 |
| 13 | 29 | Frits van Eerd Giedo van der Garde Nyck de Vries | Dallara P217 | LMP2 | 3'27.107 | 11.610 |
| 14 | 22 | Philip Hanson  Filipe Albuquerque Paul di Resta | Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'27.338 | 11.841 |
| 15 | 23 |  Rene Binder Julien Canal Will Stevens | Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'27.790 | 12.293 |
| 16 | 48 | Paul Lafargue Paul-Loup Chatin Memo Rojas | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'27.804 | 12.307 |
| 17 | 39 | Tristan Gommendy Vincent Capillaire Jonathan Hirschi | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.426 | 12.929 |
| 18 | 25 | David Zollinger Andrea Pizzitola John Falb | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.457 | 12.960 |
| 19 | 37 |  David Heinemeier Hansson Jordan King Ricky Taylor | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.569 | 13.072 |
| 20 | 30 | Nico Jamin Pierre Ragues Romain Dumas | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.653 | 13.156 |
| 21 | 26 | Roman Rusinov Job Van Uitert Jean-Eric Vergne | Aurus 01 | LMP2 | 3'28.713 | 13.216 |
| 22 | 32 |  Ryan Cullen Alex Brundle | Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'28.779 | 13.282 |
| 23 | 47 | Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto Andrea Belicchi | Dallara P217 | LMP2 | 3'28.942 | 13.445 |
| 24 | 43 |  John Farano  Arjun Maini Norman Nato | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'29.137 | 13.640 |
| 25 | 20 | Anders Fjordbach Dennis Andersen Mathias Beche | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'29.633 | 14.136 |
| 26 | 34 |  Jakub Smiechowski James Winslow Nigel Moore | Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'30.744 | 15.247 |
| 27 | 49 |  Miro Konopka Henning Enqvist Konstantin Tereshchenko | Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'35.480 | 19.983 |
| 28 | 50 | Erwin Creed Romano Ricci Nicholas Boulle | Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'36.144 | 20.647 |
| 29 | 92 | Michael Christensen Kevin Estre Laurens Vanthoor | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.388 | 33.891 |
| 30 | 63 | Jan Magnussen Antonio Garcia Mike Rockenfeller | Chevrolet Corvette C7R | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.424 | 33.927 |
| 31 | 67 |  Andy Priaulx Harry Tincknell Jonathan Bomarito | Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.530 | 34.033 |
| 32 | 93 | Patrick Pilet  Earl Bamber Nick Tandy | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.558 | 34.061 |
| 33 | 91 | Gianmaria Bruni Richard Lietz Frédéric Makowiecki | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.921 | 34.424 |
| 34 | 97 | Alex Lynn Maxime Martin Jonathan Adam | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE PRO | 3'50.037 | 34.540 |
| 35 | 94 | Sven Muller Mathieu Jaminet  Dennis Olsen | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'50.278 | 34.781 |
| 36 | 69 |  Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Scott Dixon | Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'50.339 | 34.842 |
| 37 | 68 | Joey Hand Dirk Muller Sébastien Bourdais | Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'50.486 | 34.989 |
| 38 | 71 | Davide Rigon Sam Bird Miguel Molina | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 3'50.623 | 35.126 |
| 39 | 95 | Marco Sorensen Nicki Thiim Darren Turner | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE PRO | 3'50.812 | 35.315 |
| 40 | 64 | Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Marcel Fassler | Chevrolet Corvette C7R | LMGTE PRO | 3'51.011 | 35.514 |
| 41 | 51 | Alessandro Pier Guidi James Calado Daniel Serra | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 3'51.019 | 35.522 |
| 42 | 81 | Nick Catsburg Martin Tomczyk Philipp Eng | BMW M8 GTE | LMGTE PRO | 3'51.353 | 35.856 |
| 43 | 66 | Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla Billy Johnson | Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'51.601 | 36.104 |
| 44 | 82 | Augusto Farfus Antonio Felix da Costa  Jesse Krohn | BMW M8 GTE | LMGTE PRO | 3'51.818 | 36.321 |
| 45 | 88 | Satoshi Hoshino Giorgio Roda Matteo Cairoli | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'52.454 | 36.957 |
| 46 | 56 | Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Lindsey Egidio Perfetti | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'52.750 | 37.253 |
| 47 | 54 | Thomas Flohr Francesco Castellacci Giancarlo Fisichella | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'52.826 | 37.329 |
| 48 | 89 | Pipo Derani Oliver Jarvis Jules Gounon | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 3'52.997 | 37.500 |
| 49 | 77 | Matt Campbell Christian Ried Julien Andlauer | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'53.408 | 37.911 |
| 50 | 57 | Takeshi Kimura Kei Cozzolino Côme Ledogar | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'53.474 | 37.977 |
| 51 | 85 | Ben Keating Jeroen Bleekemolen Felipe Fraga | Ford GT | LMGTE AM | 3'53.492 | 37.995 |
| 52 | 98 | Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Mathias Lauda | Aston Martin Vantage | LMGTE AM | 3'53.530 | 38.033 |
| 53 | 86 | Michael Wainwright Benjamin Barker Thomas Preining | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'53.571 | 38.074 |
| 54 | 90 |  Salih Yoluc Euan Hankey Charles Eastwood | Aston Martin Vantage | LMGTE AM | 3'53.974 | 38.477 |
| 55 | 60 | Claudio Schiavoni Andrea Piccini Sergio Pianezzola | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'53.990 | 38.493 |
| 56 | 78 | Louis Prette Philippe Prette Vincent Abril | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'54.324 | 38.827 |
| 57 | 62 | Cooper MacNeil Toni Vilander Robert Smith | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'54.350 | 38.853 |
| 58 | 83 | Manuela Gostner Rahel Frey Michelle Gatting | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'54.363 | 38.866 |
| 59 | 84 | Jeff Segal Rodrigo Baptista Wei Lu | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'54.513 | 39.016 |
| 60 | 70 | Motoaki Ishikawa Olivier Beretta Eddie Cheever III | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'54.737 | 39.240 |
| 61 | 61 | Luis Perez Companc Matthew Griffin Matteo Cressoni | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'56.072 | 40.575 |
| 62 | 99 | Tracy Krohn Nic Jönsson Patrick Long | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | ||
| View full results | ||||||
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About this article
| Series | Le Mans |
| Event | 24 Hours of Le Mans |
| Author | Jamie Klein |
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