Porsche finished the first day of the 2016 Prologue by dominating the three Friday sessions. Every time, the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid (the only one of two Porsches to take the track) dominated. During the sessions, lap times improved for the German marque. The fastest time of the day was clocked by Swiss driver Neel Jani. The poleman at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans clocked a time of 1:37:487 at the Paul Ricard circuit, enough to push the No. 5 Toyota TS 050 Hybrid to eight-tenths (1:38:347 for Kazuki Nakajima).

Audi seemed a bit subdued during the first day. The new Audi R18, taking the track for the first time, was not spared. A few mechanical problems, according to the German marque, went against the grain during the afternoon. During the night session, the No. 7 was stopped on the track before making its own way, but with a reduced number of laps covered (only four). In 1:39:393, Benoît Tréluyer, faster than the Audi driver, gave up two seconds to the Porsche.

 

🇬🇧 Wonderfull sunset over the @circuitpaulricard for the start of the #Prologue2016 night session #LeMans24 #SeeUinJune 

Une photo publiée par 24 Heures du Mans (@24heuresdumans) le 25 Mars 2016 à 11h35 PDT

In the LM P2 class, the last session of the day provided additional evidence of the close level of the competitors. Alpine was in the lead, and RGR Sport by Morand was not far behind. The Mexican team, started by owner and driver Ricardo Gonzalez, was able to count on Filipe Albuquerqu who clocked a time of 1:47:821 at the last session of the day.

Stability in LM GTE Pro with once again the No. 51 Ferrari 488 GTE of Gimmi Bruni and James Calado ahead of the Ford GTs. In LM GTE Am, the Corvette did not take the track for the last two hours of the day (like about a dozen other competitors), and left the lead to the No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage V8.

The Prologue will continue Saturday, March 26th with a first test session starting at 9:00 a.m. local time, the day being open free to the public.

Geoffroy Barre - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: The new Toyota TS 050 Hybrid is very close to the Porsche 919 Hybrids if one considers the lap times, and even reached 340.7 km/h with Anthony Davidson at the wheel.