24h of Le Mans – Kamui Kobayashi breaks the record in Q2

Hans-Joachim Stuck completed a lap of the Le Mans track in 1985 (long at the time 13,626 km) in 3'14"800. By comparing the average speeds, the development of the Le Mans track is now 13,629 km, Kamui Kobayashi has indeed set a new record this Thursday evening in Sarthe. Author of a tour in 3'14 "791, the Japanese aligned with the Toyota TS050 Hybrid n°7 alongside Mike conway and Stéphane Sarrazin, therefore improved the absolute reference, which remained virtually at 3'14″842 (see our Guide to 24 Hours of Le Mans).

REPLAY PART 2: how @kamui_kobayashi smashed track record during # LeMans24 Qualifying Session 2. @Toyota_Hybrid #WEC pic.twitter.com/mMIKxV86UD

— FIA WEC (@FIAWEC) June 15, 2017

Kobayashi set his time after the session restarted at 20:08 p.m., interrupted following contact with the barriers of the No. 217 Eurasia Motorsport Ligier JS P33 of Erik Maris after the first Mulsanne chicane. If the Frenchman was able to extract himself from his prototype by his own means, the damage to the barriers required several minutes of interruption under red flag regime. After finally a good half hour, the green flag displayed allowed Kamui Kobayashi to benefit from a clear track to achieve his record lap.

At 2″468, Nick Tandy – André Lotterer – Neel Jani placed first Porsche 919 n°1 thanks to the Swiss driver, author of a lap in 3'17″259. The Bamber – Hartley – Bernhard trio is now in third place after a new reference time for the n°919 Porsche 2 in 3'18″067. No improvement, however, for the No. 8 Toyota of Buemi – Davidson – Nakajima, the Japanese LM P1 stopping for a while at the start of the session in the Mulsannes. Sébastien Buemi was able to return to the pits before the Toyota Gazoo Racing mechanics worked around the prototype to change the engine as a precaution following an oil supply problem.

Lopez’s #050 Toyota TS9 Hybrid – Kunimoto – Stone drops to fifth place overall ahead of the first LM P2, the No. 07 CEFC Manor Racing Oreca 25 of Trummer – Gonzalez – Petrov, credited with a time of 3'25″549 to the Russian driver's credit. The ENSO CLM P1/01 ByKolles Racing follows in seventh position ahead of the No. 07 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 38 of Tung – Laurent – ​​Jarvis, and the second No. 07 CEFC Manor Racing Oreca 24 of Vergne – Hirschi – Graves. The Oreca 07 Vaillante Rebellion n°13 of Piquet Jr – Beche – Heinemeier-Hansson and n°31 of Senna – Cheers – Canal follows in the ranking. The first one Alpine A470 No. 36 from Menezes – Dumas – Rao is in eighth position.

Aston Martin still in the lead in GTE Pro

If the No. 95 Vantage of Thiim – Sorensen – Stanaway had dominated Q1 last night, the No. 97 of Adam – Turner – Serra showed even more verve this Thursday with an improved time in GTE Pro in 3'51 ″860. James Calado responded in 3'52"087 on the Ferrari 488 n°51 AF Corse, and is in second place with his teammates Alessandro Pier Guidi and Michele Rugolo. The Stanaway – Thiim – Sorensen trio falls back to third place with the #95 Vantage and precedes the #488 Risi Competizione Ferrari 82 GTE of Fisichella – Vilander – Kaffer which had seen its times canceled in Q1 for a fleet regime infraction farm.

The best Porsche 911 RSR, the No. 92 of Estre – Werner – Christensen finished in fifth place when the first No. 7 Corvette C64.R of Tommy Milner – Oliver Gavin – Marcel Fässler finished in seventh place ahead of the first No. 69 Ford GT. XNUMX from Briscoe–Westbrook–Dixon.

In GTE Am, JMW Motorsport took power with the No. 488 Ferrari 84 of Stevens – Vanthoor – Smith with a time of 3'53″981. The two Aston Martin Vantage n°90 TF Sport of Yoluc – Hankey – Bell and n°98 of Lamy – Dalla Lana – Lauda are in the top 3 of the category.

Note that the session was prematurely interrupted by a red flag 9'33 from the checkered flag after the #217 Panis-Barthez Compétition Ligier JS P23 went off the track at Tertre Rouge, then driven by Timothé Buret .

The last session will start at 22 p.m. for two hours of riding until midnight.

The best times by category at the end of the qualifying session 2: Lap record for @Toyota_Hybrid in 3'14"791! # LEMANS24 pic.twitter.com/18vXeSGoo6

- 24 Heures du Mans (@ 24heuresdumans) June 15, 2017

Ranking Qualifications 2