WEC - Hyperpole Contenders revealed at end of Le Mans Qualifying Session
The 60-minute session that determines which cars will take part in tomorrow evening’s Hyperpole session saw the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 and #52 AF Corse Ferrari take the top spots in LMH and LMGTE Pro respectively.
The top six cars in each of the four classes will take part in the Hyperpole session, which will then form the front three rows of each class grid for the 89th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The fastest time in the session was 3m26.279 set by Kamui KobayashiMatthieu in the #7 Toyota, 0.816s ahead of the #36 Alpine Elf Matmut A480-Gibson of Matthieu Vaxivierre in second spot. The #8 Toyota was third fastest with a 3m27.671 lap, just under 0.6 seconds ahead of the #708 Glickenhaus Racing 007 LMH, with the #709 007 in 7th overall and 5th in class. All five cars progress to the Hyperpole session.
The LMGTE Pro class saw a Ferrari 1-2, with the #52 AF Corse 488 of Daniel Serra setting the best time of 3m46.011, 0.570s ahead of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari of James Calado.
The #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Kevin Estre was 3rd fastest, seven tenths behind the lead Ferrari with a 3m46.779 lap. The no64 Corvette Racing C8.R, the no72 Hub Auto Racing Porsche and the #91 Porsche GT Team 911 complete the top six who will progress to tomorrow’s Hyperpole.
The LMP2 class was headed by the #38 JOTA Oreca, with Antonio Felix da Costa bounces back from an accident in free practice to post the class leading time of 3m28.807. The Portuguese driver beat Nyck de Vries in the #26 G-Drive Racing Aurus to the top spot by four tenths, with the #41 Team WRT Oreca in third place a further two tenths back.
The #65 Panis Racing, #32 United Autosports and #23 United Autosports Orecas complete the top six LMP2 cars and will progress to the Hyperpole session.
The #88 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche driven by Julien Andlauer set a 3m 48.620s best lap to head LMGTE Am class, nearly 0.5 seconds ahead of the #86 GR Racing Porsche of Ben Barker, the British driver setting a 3m49.100.
Cetilar Racing bounced back from a crash in the earlier practice session to take third place at the chequered flag, with the #47 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco crossing the line in 3m49.102s, just 0.002s off the GR Porsche. The #71 Inception Racing Ferrari, #56 Team Project 1 Porsche and #95 TF Sport Aston Martin rounded out the top six finishers.
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