The #7 Toyota will be joined by its sister-car (#8) on the front row of the grid. Kazuki Nakajima jumped to second in the LMP1 class with a 3:17.128 not long after the green flag was displayed for the two-hour session.
This bumped the #1 Porsche to third on the grid with the time Neel Jani set earlier in the day (3:17.259).
The #2 Porsche stopped on course with overheating issues halfway through the session. This prevented the defending race winners from spoiling Toyota’s front row sweep.
Alex Lynn (#26 ORECA) is the new LMP2 lap record holder. The G-Drive Racing pilot clocked a 3:25.325 early on in the final qualifying session. He knocked the #25 ORECA from CEFC Manor TRS Racing to second in class. Vitaly Petrov’s time from earlier in the day stood (3:25.549).
With less than 15 minutes left in the session, Ho-Pin Tung moved the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA up to third in LMP2 with a lap of 3:25.911.
The LMGTE Pro category had a flurry of activity toward the close of the final qualifying session. Just when it looked like Aston Martin had locked out the top two spots, the #51 Ferrari driven by James Calado broke up the party. Still, the #97 Aston Martin pole time turned by Darren Turner was another record breaker: a 3:50.837.
Calado just barely made it into second with a 3:51.028, a mere 0.01-second ahead of the #95 Aston Martin.
Fernando Rees’ LMGTE Am record-breaking lap was the culmination of a domino effect at the top of the class. First Towsend Bell set the record in the #62 Ferrari with a 3:53.312. Then, he was bumped by Pedro Lamy in the #98 Aston Martin, who entered a 3:53.233. It was only moments after that Rees turned away all other challengers with a 3:52.843 in the #50 Corvette.
Even the #4 ByKolles Racing Team’s ENSO was able to set a new record; fastest lap for a privateer entry, a 3:24.170.
Track action resumes on Saturday with the warm-up scheduled for 9:00. The beginning of the start procedure commences at 13:25, followed by the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at 15:00!
- 24 Heures du Mans
