Le Mans 24h: Toyota secures front row lockout
Toyota secured a front row lockout after final qualifying with its pair of TS050 Hybrids for the Le Mans 24 Hours, as its privateer rivals failed to best its times from the earlier session.
Kamui Kobayashi's best time from second qualifying in the #7 Toyota, a 3m15.497s, went unbeaten in the final two-hour session, as neither of the TS050 Hybrids improved on their earlier efforts.
It gives the Japanese driver, who shares the #7 machine with Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez, a second pole at La Sarthe in three years.
Kazuki Nakajima set the quickest time in the #8 Toyota of 3m15.908s, 0.411s shy of Kobayashi.
Both of SMP Racing's AER-powered BR Engineering BR1s set new personal bests in the early stages of final qualifying, narrowing the gap slightly to the two Toyotas.
Egor Orudzhev secured third on the grid in the #17 car with a 3m16.159s, going seven tenths clear of the #11 car of Stoffel Vandoorne but still 0.682s shy of Kobayashi's benchmark.
Rebellion denied privateer LMP1 rival SMP a second-row lockout however when Gustavo Menezes posted a 3m16.404s in the #3 R-13-Gibson after a red flag delay caused by the #1 car.
Bruno Senna was at the wheel of the #1 when it suffered an engine blow-up before parking up at Arnage and causing a delay of some 15 minutes. Andre Lotterer had earlier improved the car's best time to a 3m16.810s, two tenths behind the second SMP car.
DragonSpeed's Gulf-liveried BR1 will start seventh thanks to Ben Hanley's time in first qualifying, which was 4.703s off the pace but still 2.9s up on the ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01.
LMP2: Graff edges TDS for pole
The French Graff squad came out on top in the battle for LMP2 class honours, as Tristan Gommendy edged out TDS Racing rival Loic Duval.
Gommendy set a best lap of 3m25.073s to lead an all-Oreca top six in the Michelin-shod #39 car, beating Duval's Dunlop-shod #28 machine by 0.272s and Pastor Maldonado in the #31 DragonSpeed car, also on Michelins, by 0.594s.
#39 Graff Racing S24 Oreca 07 Gibson: Vincent Capillaire, Jonathan Hirschi, Tristan Gommendy
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Nicolas Lapierre left it until the dying moments of the session to move up to fourth in the FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 points-leading Signatech Alpine, ahead of the #48 IDEC Sport car, of Paul-Loup Chatin and the G-Drive Aurus-branded Oreca driven by Jean-Eric Vergne.
Best of the non-Orecas was once again the #22 United Autosports Ligier in seventh.
GTE: Aston Martin beats Ford, Corvette
Aston Martin secured pole in the GTE Pro class ahead of Ford, Corvette and Porsche.
Marco Sorensen was at the wheel of the #95 Vantage GTE for a lap of 3m48.000s, which was enough to beat Harry Tincknell in the #67 Ford GT by just 0.112s and Antonio Garcia in the #63 Corvette C7.R by 0.830s.
#95 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR: Marco Sorensen, Nicki Thiim, Darren Turner
Photo by: Marc Fleury
The best of the Porsche 911 RSRs was one of the CORE autosport-run IMSA cars, the #93 machine of Nick Tandy in fourth, which had been third until Garcia's last-gasp improvement.
BMW made it five different manufacturers in the top five thanks to Augusto Farfus's best lap in the #82 M8 GTE, but the sister machine was left down in 16th after Nicky Catsburg crashed at the Ford chicane.
Ferrari's top representative was the #71 488 GTE of Sam Bird in eighth, behind the #66 Ford GT of late improver Dirk Muller and the WEC points-leading #92 Porsche driven by Michael Christensen.
Porsche locked out the top three places in GTE Am, with Matteo Cairoli clinching pole for the #88 Dempsey-Proton car with a best time of 3m51.439s.
Matt Campbell was around two tenths slower in the sister #77 car, while Thomas Preining made a late move up to third in the #86 Gulf Racing Porsche, demoting the best of the Ferraris, the #84 JMW Motorsport car.
Qualifying results:
| 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 | 17 |  Stéphane Sarrazin  Egor Orudzhev Sergey Sirotkin | BR Engineering BR1 | LMP1 | 3'16.159 | 0.662 |
| 4 | 3 | Thomas Laurent Nathanael Berthon  Gustavo Menezes | Rebellion R13 | LMP1 | 3'16.404 | 0.907 |
| 5 | 11 | Vitaly Petrov Mikhail Aleshin  Stoffel Vandoorne | BR Engineering BR1 | LMP1 | 3'16.665 | 1.168 |
| 6 | 1 | Neel Jani  Andre Lotterer  Bruno Senna | Rebellion R13 | LMP1 | 3'16.810 | 1.313 |
| 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 | 3'23.109 | 7.612 |
| 9 | 39 | Tristan Gommendy Vincent Capillaire Jonathan Hirschi | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'25.073 | 9.576 |
| 10 | 28 | François Perrodo Matthieu Vaxiviere Loic Duval | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'25.345 | 9.848 |
| 11 | 31 |  Roberto Gonzalez  Pastor Maldonado Anthony Davidson | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'25.667 | 10.170 |
| 12 | 36 | Nicolas Lapierre Andre Negrao Pierre Thiriet | Alpine A470 | LMP2 | 3'25.874 | 10.377 |
| 13 | 48 | Paul Lafargue Paul-Loup Chatin Memo Rojas | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'26.011 | 10.514 |
| 14 | 26 | Roman Rusinov Job Van Uitert Jean-Eric Vergne | Aurus 01 | LMP2 | 3'26.257 | 10.760 |
| 15 | 22 | Philip Hanson  Filipe Albuquerque Paul di Resta | Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'26.543 | 11.046 |
| 16 | 38 |  Ho-Pin Tung  Stéphane Richelmi Gabriel Aubry | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'26.821 | 11.324 |
| 17 | 29 | Frits van Eerd Giedo van der Garde Nyck de Vries | Dallara P217 | LMP2 | 3'27.107 | 11.610 |
| 18 | 32 |  Ryan Cullen Alex Brundle | Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'27.509 | 12.012 |
| 19 | 20 |  Anders Fjordbach Dennis Andersen Mathias Beche | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'27.610 | 12.113 |
| 20 | 23 |  Rene Binder Julien Canal Will Stevens | Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'27.790 | 12.293 |
| 21 | 37 | David Heinemeier Hansson Jordan King Ricky Taylor | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.049 | 12.552 |
| 22 | 30 | Nico Jamin Pierre Ragues Romain Dumas | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.195 | 12.698 |
| 23 | 25 | David Zollinger Andrea Pizzitola John Falb | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.457 | 12.960 |
| 24 | 43 |  John Farano  Arjun Maini Norman Nato | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.803 | 13.306 |
| 25 | 47 | Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto Andrea Belicchi | Dallara P217 | LMP2 | 3'28.942 | 13.445 |
| 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 | 3'34.146 | 18.649 |
| 28 | 50 | Erwin Creed Romano Ricci Nicholas Boulle | Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 3'34.913 | 19.416 |
| 29 | 95 | Marco Sorensen Nicki Thiim Darren Turner | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE PRO | 3'48.000 | 32.503 |
| 30 | 67 |  Andy Priaulx Harry Tincknell Jonathan Bomarito | Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'48.112 | 32.615 |
| 31 | 63 | Jan Magnussen Antonio Garcia Mike Rockenfeller | Chevrolet Corvette C7R | LMGTE PRO | 3'48.830 | 33.333 |
| 32 | 93 | Patrick Pilet  Earl Bamber Nick Tandy | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'48.907 | 33.410 |
| 33 | 82 | Augusto Farfus Antonio Felix da Costa  Jesse Krohn | BMW M8 GTE | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.108 | 33.611 |
| 34 | 68 | Joey Hand Dirk Muller Sébastien Bourdais | Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.116 | 33.619 |
| 35 | 92 | Michael Christensen Kevin Estre Laurens Vanthoor | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.196 | 33.699 |
| 36 | 71 | Davide Rigon Sam Bird Miguel Molina | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.391 | 33.894 |
| 37 | 66 | Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla Billy Johnson | Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.511 | 34.014 |
| 38 | 69 |  Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Scott Dixon | Ford GT | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.546 | 34.049 |
| 39 | 64 | Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Marcel Fassler | Chevrolet Corvette C7R | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.573 | 34.076 |
| 40 | 51 | Alessandro Pier Guidi James Calado Daniel Serra | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.655 | 34.158 |
| 41 | 91 | Gianmaria Bruni Richard Lietz Frédéric Makowiecki | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'49.921 | 34.424 |
| 42 | 97 | Alex Lynn Maxime Martin Jonathan Adam | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE PRO | 3'50.037 | 34.540 |
| 43 | 94 | Sven Muller Mathieu Jaminet  Dennis Olsen | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'50.278 | 34.781 |
| 44 | 81 | Nick Catsburg Martin Tomczyk Philipp Eng | BMW M8 GTE | LMGTE PRO | 3'51.353 | 35.856 |
| 45 | 88 | Satoshi Hoshino Giorgio Roda Matteo Cairoli | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'51.439 | 35.942 |
| 46 | 89 | Pipo Derani Oliver Jarvis Jules Gounon | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 3'51.454 | 35.957 |
| 47 | 77 | Matt Campbell Christian Ried Julien Andlauer | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'51.645 | 36.148 |
| 48 | 86 | Michael Wainwright Benjamin Barker Thomas Preining | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'51.944 | 36.447 |
| 49 | 84 | Jeff Segal Rodrigo Baptista Wei Lu | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'52.423 | 36.926 |
| 50 | 78 | Louis Prette Philippe Prette Vincent Abril | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'52.434 | 36.937 |
| 51 | 56 | Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Lindsey Egidio Perfetti | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'52.750 | 37.253 |
| 52 | 54 | Thomas Flohr Francesco Castellacci Giancarlo Fisichella | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'52.826 | 37.329 |
| 53 | 57 | Takeshi Kimura Kei Cozzolino Côme Ledogar | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'53.474 | 37.977 |
| 54 | 85 | Ben Keating Jeroen Bleekemolen Felipe Fraga | Ford GT | LMGTE AM | 3'53.492 | 37.995 |
| 55 | 60 | Claudio Schiavoni Andrea Piccini Sergio Pianezzola | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'53.528 | 38.031 |
| 56 | 98 | Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Mathias Lauda | Aston Martin Vantage | LMGTE AM | 3'53.530 | 38.033 |
| 57 | 90 |  Salih Yoluc Euan Hankey Charles Eastwood | Aston Martin Vantage | LMGTE AM | 3'53.606 | 38.109 |
| 58 | 62 | Cooper MacNeil Toni Vilander Robert Smith | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'53.630 | 38.133 |
| 59 | 70 | Motoaki Ishikawa Olivier Beretta Eddie Cheever III | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'54.051 | 38.554 |
| 60 | 83 | Manuela Gostner Rahel Frey Michelle Gatting | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'54.083 | 38.586 |
| 61 | 61 | Luis Perez Companc Matthew Griffin Matteo Cressoni | Ferrari 488 GTE | LMGTE AM | 3'54.799 | 39.302 |
| 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 |
| Drivers | Kamui Kobayashi , Kazuki Nakajima |
| Teams | Toyota Gazoo Racing WEC |
| Author | Jamie Klein |
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