Provisional Le Mans Pole For Toyota

#7 Toyota streak to provisional pole

The first qualifying session for the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans got off to a late start. An incident in the Road to Le Mans free practice session immediately prior to qualifying required guardrail repairs. This delayed the start of qualifying and shortened the session by 20 minutes.

Potentially because of this, and a slew of slow zones at the beginning of the session, the qualifying times were not as low as expected. Instead, teams chose to run through their driver rotations to ensure the required night laps were completed.

In LMP1, Toyota Gazoo Racing did not better its time from the Le Mans test day. The #7 was still the quickest though. Kamui Kobayashi set the car’s best lap, a 3:18.793. He was followed by his teammate Kazuki Nakajima in the #8, who turned a 3:19.431.

The quickest of the Porsche 919 Hybrids was the #2 with Timo Bernhard at the wheel. The German’s best lap was a 3:19.710.

The biggest drama came from the LMP2 category, where TDS Racing waited until the final 10 minutes of the session to reset the LMP2 lap record. Matthiew Vaxivière turned a 3:29.333 in the #28 ORECA. This lap knocked the #31 Vaillante Rebellion ORECA to the second spot on the timing screens. Driver Bruno Senna’s best lap was a 3:29.851.

The CEFC Manor team locked out the top two spots in LMP2 early in the session, but by the checkered flag their best entry was the #25 driven by Vitaly Petrov. His lap of 3:30.502 placed the car third in class.

ORECA cars filled out the top five positions in the category. The highest non-ORECA was the #36 Signatech Alpine Matmut entry in sixth.

Aston Martin was tops in both LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am.

The #95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage just barely edged out the #71 AF Corse Ferrari. Nicki Thiim set the quickest lap for Aston Martin, a 3:52.117. He was followed by Sam Bird with a 3:52.235. The sister AF Corse Ferrari (#51) was third in LMGTE Pro. James Calado entered a 3:53.123.

The highest placing entry from the defending race winner, Ford, was the #67 in fifth. It’s best was a 3:54.118 from Andy Priaulx.

The LMGTE Am category had the closest fight at the top, but the top three were set early in the session and stayed that way until the finish. Pedro Lamy in the #98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage was the best of the group with a 3:55.134. He was followed by the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche in which Matteo Cairoli turned a 3:55.692.

TF Sport completed the top three in LMGTE Am. Euan Hankey’s best lap in the #90 Aston Martin was a 3:55.953.

Teams will have two more qualifying sessions tomorrow—one at 19H and another at 22H— to set the grid for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans!

TS050 HYBRID #7 (Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Stephane Sarrazin)

Free practice 1: 2nd (3min 20.966secs), 51 laps

Qualifying 1: 1st (3min 18.793secs), 26 laps

Mike Conway (TS050 HYBRID #7): “That was a great lap by Kamui, especially considering it wasn’t a full-blown qualifying attack. It has been a good job from the whole crew to get the car in such good shape, because we have been steadily improving. We are focusing on the race so we just have to keep working away and prepare the best we can. I feel pretty prepared already after a good first day."

Kamui Kobayashi (TS050 HYBRID #7): “Even though my lap was fastest, I had traffic so that was a bit frustrating. But it’s good to be on provisional pole. In the afternoon I got more confident with the car and we made progress. It is a 24-hour race so qualifying isn’t the priority; let’s see how we can improve the car for long runs because we need to be prepared for a long race."

Stephane Sarrazin (TS050 HYBRID #7): “It was a very good first day on our car. We focused mostly on preparing for the race because that is the most important thing. Kamui did a very good lap time which shows we have a nice basis. We can still improve the balance to be stronger for the race but we’ve made a strong start so I’m happy with our work so far."

TS050 HYBRID #8 (Sebastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson, Kazuki Nakajima)

Free practice 1: 4th (3min 21.775secs), 50 laps

Qualifying 1: 2nd (3min 19.431secs), 26 laps

Sebastien Buemi (TS050 HYBRID #8): “I didn’t do a lot of laps in qualifying so there’s not a lot to say. It’s encouraging to see two TOYOTAs on the provisional front row but it’s only first qualifying. We are focusing more on preparing for the race; qualifying is just part of that process."

Anthony Davidson (TS050 HYBRID #8): “It’s been a surprising day really because the track conditions were nothing like they were at the test. We were very comfortable with the car in the test but initially the balance wasn’t there today. We had to work to rectify it and we have done a pretty good job. There is still one more day to prepare so we’ll be working hard."

Kazuki Nakajima (TS050 HYBRID #8): “The track conditions were pretty bad so that made it harder. Later in qualifying the conditions got back to where they were for the test and we were quite happy with the car at night. We learned a lot about tires and set-up in these conditions, so it was a productive day but we need to keep pushing."

TS050 HYBRID #9 (Nicolas Lapierre, Yuji Kunimoto, Jose María L¢pez)

Free practice 1: 5th (3min 21.975secs), 54 laps

Qualifying 1: 4th (3min 19.958secs), 27 laps

#9 Toyota 4th quick

Nicolas Lapierre (TS050 HYBRID #9): “It was a bit frustrating for me due to a lot of traffic on my qualifying laps but the car was pretty good so I am happy about that. Tomorrow the track will probably be faster anyway. It was particularly positive that my two team-mates did a great job, also at night, and the car seems competitive. So overall I am pretty happy."

Yuji Kunimoto (TS050 HYBRID #9): “I drove a night session here at Le Mans for the first time and I enjoyed it a lot. Of course, it is more challenging than a day session and I had to adjust to the traffic, especially in the high-speed corners. I have learned a lot and I am pleased with how it is going."

Jose María L¢pez (TS050 HYBRID #9): “It was very special to do my first qualifying here at Le Mans. I really enjoyed the night driving and I am learning every time I jump into the car. I am building up my pace step by step and I am very happy with my progress. This is only the start; it’s a 24-hour race and Thursday is another day. We will be ready to fight."

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