Bourdais poleman, quadruple Peugeot

Peugeot did the hardest on Wednesday, during the first phase of the qualifying session. With the weather forecast forecasting rain this Thursday, the Peugeot Total team sent its polemen to the coals in the first two hours of qualifying. At the end of this first third, Sébastien Bourdais had taken pole for the #908 Peugeot 3 HDi FAP.

This Thursday, the biggest question was whether the rain would kill the suspense quickly. Although the sky rumbled in the morning and mid-afternoon, it then calmed down and the track was able to dry out. However, the lack of grip, a consequence of these showers, prevented the drivers from setting good times in the first of four hours of qualifying this Thursday (19 p.m.-20 p.m.).

But, subsequently, the track improved and the drivers were able to try to set times. For example in GT1 and LMP2, the latter being the category in which the two HPD ARX-01c competed for pole. It was ultimately that of Strakka Racing which won, in 3:33:079. In GT1, Romain Grosjean tried to offer pole to the No. 60 Matech Ford GT but failed by five tenths of the lead.Aston Martin Young Driver AMR DBR9 (3?55??025).

If we believed that the debates were calmer in LMP1, it was without taking into account the desire of the drivers to demonstrate all their talent on this demanding circuit. Thus, Romain Dumas placed the Audi R15 TDI in fifth place, in 3:21:981. For his part, Sébastien Bourdais (Peugeot 908 HDi FAP n°3), already in provisional pole since Wednesday evening, tried to beat his time, coming within five tenths of his pole time, in 3:20:212 . Ultimately, no one was able to reverse the trend and the quadruplet established Wednesday evening by the Lion firm remained as it was: the Peugeot n°3 of Sébastien Bourdais ahead of the n°1 and the n°2, preceding the Peugeot 908 from Oreca.

« It's my first pole, it's really nice, commented the Sarthoise driver, on pole 24 Hours of Le Mans in front of his audience. We can say that it is not stolen, with the times we achieved this evening. The team did a great job. Now all that's left to do is... I can't wait for the race to start. To impose yourself? I don't know but we have the equipment to do it. Will we be successful? This I do not know. But we have the equipment and crew to do it. I hope people will smile and that this race will be a success for Peugeot. »

In GT2, it?s Ferrari F430 n°82 from Risi Competizione which achieved the best time, in 3:59:233. The two Corvettes n°64 and n°63 follow, while the Ferrari F430 n°95 from AF Corse (Fisichella, Alesi, Vilander) ranks fourth in the category.