Le Mans 24H: Toyota GAZOO Racing takes pole, Porsche tops GTEs in Hyperpole qualifying

Toyota GAZOO Racing took overall pole position in an exciting Hyperpole session ahead of the final 24 Hours of Le Mans for their TS050 Hybrid LMP1.

This 30-minute thrilling session featured a thinned-out grid of competitors (23 cars) after yesterday’s initial qualifying session.

Teams would put one of their drivers into the cars to put down flat-out lap times using two dedicated sets of tyres for Hyperpole.

There was a fight for outright pole position in LMP1 as Rebellion’s Gustavo Menezez in the #1 asserted strong pace up against the Hybrid Toyotas.

A handful of ultra-fast lap times by Kamui Kobayashi put the #7 into pole position with a time of 3m15.267s.

On his final flying lap, he was set to beat his own Le Mans (qualifying) track record, but exceeded track limits to diminish that attempt.

The #1 Rebellion split the two Toyotas with a final time of 3m15.822s, over eight-tenths faster than the #8, a two-time reigning winner at Le Mans.

Behind the #3, was the #4 ByKolles which struggled to assert the pace against its LMP1 rivals. It set a time of 3m23.043s, nearly five seconds away from the fourth-placed #3 Rebellion Racing.

The #22 United Autosports topped the LMP2 category with a time of 3m24.528s in the hands of Paul Di Resta.

Just over three-tenths behind were the #26 G Drive Racing crew, as two-time Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne set a 3m24.860s.

Racing Team Nederland qualified third in LMP2, after a brief moment at the entry to the Porsche Curves where he ran wide into the gravel. He recovered, and that #29 car later put down a time of 3m25.062s.

Behind the #33 High Class Racing, was the sister #32 United Autosports.

The only team (#37 Jackie Chan DC Racing) with Goodyear tyres (in Hyperpole) rounded the top-six in LMP2.

Gianmaria Bruni took the #91 Porsche to the fastest of the GTEs with a 3m50.874s, closely followed by reigning GTE-Pro Le Mans champions in the #51 AF Corse.

Behind were the two Aston Martins; the #95 qualified ahead of the #97 after both topping yesterday’s qualifying session.

Ferrari manufacturer driver and Formula E regular Sam Bird took the #71 ahead of Michael Christensen’s #92 Porsche.

In the Am class, Luzich Racing took pole +0.056s ahead of the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing.

The #56 Team Project 1 followed behind with a time of 3m51.647s, ahead of the #98 Aston Martin Racing.

TF Sport ahead of the #86 Gulf Racing both rounded off the top-six in the GTE-Am category.