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Le Mans 24 Hours: Audi sets an impressive performance

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Khatir Soltani
Three Audi R18s locked the top three positions in the first qualifying session ahead of 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the first Toyota already four seconds adrift.

Audi R18 e-tron quattro
Audi R18 e-tron quattro (Photo: Audi)

Loïc Duval, who will race the No. 1 car alongside Tom Kristensen and Alan McNish, set his best lap in 3m22.349, beathing last year's time by 1.5 seconds.

He leads his teammates Gene, Di Grassi and Jarvis, and Lotterer, Fassler and Treluyer. The fastest Toyota, driven by Wurz,, Lapierre and Nakajima, is fourth, four seconds slower than the best Audi.

As expected, the best independant LMP1 car is the Rebellion’s Lola Toyota of Jani, Prost and Heidfeld, ahead of the second ToyotaTS030 Hybrid.

Toyota TS030 Hybrid
Toyota TS030 Hybrid (Photo: Toyota)

In LMP2, it was the G Drive’s Oreca Nissan driven by Martin, Rusinov and Conway that emerged fastest ahead of the Morgan Judd driven by Gachnang, Mailleux and Lombard.

There was a big fight in GTE Pro, and the works Aston Martin Vantage of Makowiecki, Bell and Senna was the fastest car of the class.

Aston also dominated in GTE Am, with the best lap time set by Nygaard, Poulsen and Simonsen.

The second qualifying session will start at 7pm Thursday.

Qualifications 1:
1. Duval/McNish/Kristensen (Audi R18 e-Tron) – Audi Joest - 3'22"349 (1st LMP1)
2. Gené/Di Grassi/Jarvis(Audi R18 e-Tron) – Audi Joest - 3'24"341
3. Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer (Audi R18 e-Tron) – Audi Joest - 3'25"474
4. Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima (Toyota TS030 Hybrid) – Toyota - 3'26"676
5. Prost/Jani/Heidfeld (Lola B12/60-Toyota) – Rebellion - 3'30"423
6. Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin (Toyota TS030 Hybrid) – Toyota - 3'30"841
7. Belicchi/Beche/Cheng (Lola B12/60-Toyota) – Rebellion - 3'32"167
8. Leventis/Watts/Kane (HPD ARX 03c–Honda) – Strakka - 3'36"547
9. Martin/Rusinov/Conway (Oreca 03-Nissan) – G-Drive - 3'39"535 (1st LMP2)
10. Gachnang/Mailleux/Lombard (Morgan-Judd) – Morand - 3'40"741
(…)
27. Makowiecki/Bell/Senna (Aston Martin Vantage V8) – Aston Martin - 3'55"658 (1st GTE Pro)
(…)
36. Nygaard/Poulsen/Simonsen (Aston Martin Vantage) – Aston Martin - 3'58"661
etc.


Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
Automotive expert
  • Over 6 years experience as a car reviewer
  • Over 50 test drives in the last year
  • Involved in discussions with virtually every auto manufacturer in Canada