The first of the interruptions came just one hour after the session started when World Endurance Champion Duval in the No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro left the track at high speed at the Porsche Curves and made heavy contact with the barriers. The Frenchman, who was alert and conscious, was taken to hospital in the centre of Le Mans for further examination and the session re-started 50 minutes later.

In the LMP1-H category the top three were Toyota-Audi-Toyota – the Toyota’s time of 3:23.652 being 0.324s ahead of the No.2 Audi and 0.639 ahead of the No.7 Toyota TS040 Hybrid. Anthony Davidson was the fastest of the Toyota drivers, and Marcel Fässler was the quickest of the Audi line up.

Rebellion Racing’s two Toyota-powered R-Ones were both setting their marks, the No.12 finishing with a fastest lap of 3:31.212 set by Mathias Beche.

In LMP2 the new Ligier JSP P2 of OAK Racing set the benchmark time of 3:41.611, with ELMS entrant Murphy Prototypes second in class in their ORECA 03R Nissan. First of the WEC entries was the No.37 SMP Racing ORECA 03 Nissan in the hands of Nicolas Minassian, and the second was fifth in class (No.47 KCMG ORECA 03R of Richard Bradley).

In LMGTE Aston Martin Racing set the pace but it was the No.95 Vantage V8 GTE of Nicki Thiim who was fastest overall with a best lap of 3:57.015, beating the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Gianmaria Bruni by 0.013s! Darren Turner was next in line in the Pro category in the No.97 Aston Martin Vantage with a best lap of 3:57.086 which demonstrates how competitive this class is going to be all week.

Second in the LMGTE Am class, and also mixing things up with the Pro cars was the Dempsey Racing Proton Porsche, with the second WEC entry ending up third in class (No.81 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Michele Rugolo). The second and third red flag periods were for cars No.67 (IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche) and No.90 (8Star Motorsport Ferrari) which had incidents.

Two hours of qualifying will take place this evening, beginning at 22h00.