Le Mans – Kobayashi: “It was the right time”

Kamui Kobayashi achieved a feat during the second qualifying practice session of the 85th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans by setting the new lap record. The pilot of the Toyota n°7 took advantage of a clear track when the interruption ended to attack and complete the 13,629km of the Sarthe circuit in 3'14''791.

The Toyota driver thus beat by 2''096 the previous record held by Hans-Joachim Stuck who had achieved an average speed of 251,815km/h on a Porsche 962C in 1985. The TS050 Hybrid finished its lap with an average speed of 251,9 km/h, giving the Japanese manufacturer its 3rd pole at the 24 Hours of Le Mans after Martin Brundle on the GT-One in 1999 and Kazuki Nakajima on the TS040 Hybrid in 2014.

“I warmly thank the team for this result, comments Kamui Kobayashi. I was 100% confident in the car and we are fast when that is the case. My lap was incredible and the car was fantastic. It was the right time, leaving just after the red flag without having any traffic. I'm really proud of this pole, but there is still a 24-hour race to go and we remain focused on the end result. »

The other Toyota crews struggled a little more. If number 8 of Buemi-Davidson-Nakajima completed the first row of the grid, she was only able to complete two installation laps in the second qualifying session due to an oil problem requiring an engine change.

As for Kunimoto's No. 9 Toyota-Stone-Lopez, she only took 5th position behind the two Porsche 919 Hybrids.

“It was a bit frustrating for us because I think we had the potential to do much better, but I got caught in traffic on my first attempt and then we focused on preparing for the race, explained Nicolas Lapierre who qualified the third TS050 Hybrid. We could have been at the front with our teammates, but I am still happy with the team's result. »

Toyota Gazoo Racing is still aiming for its first victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, counting as many as five second places in 18 appearances.