24H Le Mans: Kamui Kobayashi (Toyota) persists and signs by taking a new pole position! – Endurance-Info

After less than ten minutes in this Hyperpole, Kamui Kobayashi (Toyota GR010 – Hybrid # 7) was already in 3’23”900. And, never again, he will be worried. The Japanese sign his 4th pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, his 3rd in a row, hat! “We beat our simulations, we didn’t think we would be so fast” admitted Pascal Vasselon, the technical director of Toyota Gazoo Racing, after the session. Brendon Hartley, on the second Toyota, is 2nd, 0.295s behind his teammate. Nicolas Lapierre (Alpine A480 # 36 Alpine ELF Matmut) fails in 3rd place 1.6s from pole. The two Glickenhaus 007 LMHs follow, the # 708 of Olivier Pla in front of the # 709 of Romain Dumas.

In LMP2, the former Formula E world champion, Antonio Felix Da Costa, set the best time on the Oreca 07 # 38 JOTA in 3’27”950. The Portuguese are ahead of Louis Delétraz (Oreca 07 # 41 Team WRT) by five tenths. Will Stevens (Oreca 07 # 65 Panis Racing) completed the top 3. Next came the Aurus 01 # 26 G-Drive Racing from Nyck De Vries and the Oreca 07 # 32 (Nicolas Jamin) and # 23 (Paul Di Resta) from United Autosports.

Dries Vanthoor did not take long to adapt to the Porsche 911 RSR-19. He took pole position in GTE Pro on the # 72 of Hub Auto Racing (3’46”882). It precedes the Ferrari 488 GTE EVO # 52 AF Corse by Daniel Serra and Nick Tandy’s # 64 Corvette C8.R. There are three brands in the first three places.

The Ferrari 488 GTE EVO # 51 AF Corse of James Calado is 4th and the Porsche 911 RSR – 19 # 91 of Gianmaria Bruni, 5th. As for the # 92 Porsche 911 RSR – 19 of Kevin Estre, the Frenchman got off the track near Indianapolis. The car was pulled out of the gravel trap after hitting the tire wall. She didn’t sign a stopwatch.

Julien Andlauer is the poleman of the GTE Am. Brilliant, the Frenchman places his Porsche 911 RSR – 19 # 88 Dempsey Proton Racing at the top of the hierarchy in 3’47”987. Two other German cars follow, the # 86 GR Racing by Benjamin Barker and # 56 Team Project 1 by Matteo Cairoli. Antonio Fuoco’s Ferrari 488 GTE EVO # 47 Cetilar Racing is the best representative of the Italian clan (4th) ahead of # 71 Inception Racing (Ben Barnicoat). Felipe Fraga’s Aston Martin Vantage # 33 TF SPORT brings up the rear.

There are now two hours of free night sessions left for all competitors …

The times are here