WEC

Toyota on provisional pole after first qualifying

The No. 050 Toyota TS7 Hybrid takes provisional pole position for the 87th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans after the first qualifying session. But the LM P1 was involved in an accident with the No. 07 Oreca 31 - DragonSpeed, best time in LM P2.

Published on 13/06/2019 à 00:05

Pierre Tassel

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Toyota on provisional pole after first qualifying

La Toyota TS050 Hybrid n°7 Mike conway - Kamui Kobayashi – Jose Maria Lopez completes this first qualifying session of 24 Hours of Le Mans 2019 with the provisional best time, but the leading LM P1 was involved in an incident with the #07 Oreca 31 – DragonSpeed, itself best time in LM P2. 

Kamui Kobayashi struck first at the end of the initial attempts of this Q1 shortly after the green flag at 22 p.m., setting the first benchmark in 3’17”161, a little more than four tenths ahead of the #1 BR17 – SMP Racing of Egor Orudzhev, associated with Stéphane Sarrazin and Sergey Sirotkin.

The rest of the session was marked by this famous contact at the Junction between the No. 7 Toyota, then driven by Mike Conway, and the No. 07 Oreca 31 – DragonSpeed, entrusted at that moment to Roberto Gonzalez.

The Mexican, who had spun, wanted to leave, without seeing Mike Conway arrive. The LM P1 took off in shock, the two prototypes immediately returning to the pit lane to assess the damage caused.

“I tried to leave, looking carefully, but I didn’t see the Toyota coming. » admitted Gonzalez on Radio Le Mans. The two prototypes were able to return to the track after several minutes of repairs in the pits.

The session was not easy for the #8 Toyota, victim of contact with theAston Martin Vantage n°98 from Dalla Lana – Lamy – Lauda, ​​also at the Connection level.

The top 3 of the premier category is completed by the best R13 n°3 – Rebellion Racing of Laurent – ​​Menezes – Berthon, clocked at 2″4, and despite an off-road excursion by Laurent during the session.

The No. 050 Toyota TS8 HybridAlonso - Buemi – Nakajima finishes this Q1 in 4th position in the same tenth as the No. 13 R3, and is followed by the No. 1 BR10 – DragonSpeed, immobilized following gearbox problems.

 

 

Maldonado maintains the advantage in LM P2

DragonSpeed ​​is temporarily at the top of the category, thanks to another great performance from Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, who placed the No. 07 Oreca 31 of the American team at the forefront in 3'28"804, 131 thousandths ahead Nicolas lapierre (Alpine A470 n°36 – Signatech Alpine).

The top 5 of the session remained essentially the same as after the first hour of running, with the best Ligier JS P217 n°22 – United Autosports de di Resta – Albuquerque – Hanson, 3rd at 0″534, ahead of the Oreca 07s. n°48 – IDEC Sport from Rojas – Lafargue – Chatin at 1″and the Oreca 07 n°30 – Duqueine Engineering from Dumas – Jamin – Ragues, classified at 1″8.

The last word for Harry Tincknell and Ford

Gianmaria Bruni semblait avoir réalisé ce qui paraissait un chrono référence en 3’50″111 à la première tentative de la Porsche 911 RSR n°91, mais c’était sans compter sur un tour 74 millièmes plus rapide en 3’50″037 d’Alex Lynn sur l’Aston Martin Vantage n°97 partagée avec Maxime Martin et Jonny Adam. Un temps qui tiendra presque durant la totalité de la séance.

But the last effort less than 5′ from the checkered flag ofHarry Tincknell (Ford GT n°67) will be the good one, the Briton completing his best lap in 3’49”530. Tincknell finally leads the No. 93 Porsche of Nick Tandy – Patrick Pilet – Earl Bamber by 28 thousandths.

Followed by the Aston Martin n°97 of Lynn – Martin – Adam, Bruni – Makowiecki – Lietz (Porsche n°91), Jaminet – Müller – Olsen (Porsche n°94) and Estre – Christensen – Vanthoor (Porsche n°92) .

The second Aston Martin Vantage n°95 of Sorensen – Thiim – Turner is 1″2 ahead of the first Ferrari 488 n°71 – AF Corse de Bird – Rigon – Molina at 1″3.

Further down the hierarchy, the #8 BMW M81 GTE of Eng – Tomczyk – Catsburg takes 9th position, 1″9 ahead of the #69 Ford GT of Dixon – Westbrook – Briscoe.

Garcia’s first No. 7 Corvette C63.R – Magnussen – Rockenfeller ranks 11th, Garcia having achieved the best time in 3’49”467, lap canceled for improvement under yellow flag.

The #68 Ford GT Bourdais – Muller – Hand finished 15th in the category at 3″5, while Olivier Pla (Ford GT no. 66) also went off the track in the series of Porsche turns during this second hour.

 

 

The #911 Porsche 88 RSR – Dempsey-Proton Racing of Cairoli – Roda – Ried retained the advantage in GTE Am in 3’52”454, ahead of the #911 56 RSR – Team Project1 of Bergmeister – Lindsay – Perfetti and the No. 77 – Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Andlauer – Ried – Campbell.

The second qualifying session will begin tomorrow at 19 p.m. and will again be followed live via our live-text.

 

 

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