WEC: Hartley Takes Sensational Le Mans Pole for Toyota; Corvette snatches LMGTE Pro 1-2
The No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid Hypercar takes pole position in dramatic Hyperpole session at third round of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Brendon Hartley is the king of Le Mans qualifying with a brilliant 3m24.408s lap in a thrilling finale to clinch the Hyperpole.
Toyota is 1-2 after the final shootout sees the New Zealander beat teammate Kamui Kobayashi in No.7 Toyota by just 0.177s
Alpine ELF Team ends up third after 3m24.850s lap by Nicolas Lapierre is lauded by a large fanbase for the “Les Bleues” squad. But the French ace loses his fastest tour for track limits.
Glickenhaus is fourth and fifth as all Hypercars are covered by just 1.9s. Four of the five Hypercars tops times during the 30-minute session.
The LMGTE Pro category sees the No.64 Corvette lead the way as Nick Tandy’s early session topping laps of 3m49.895s beats sister Corvette driven by Antonio Garcia by a mere 0.192s.
Porsche GT Team start from the second row of the grid as No.91 leads No.92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 as Frederic Makowiecki and Laurens Vanthoor set times.
AF Corse Ferrari fifth and sixth with No.52 of Antonio Fuoco just beating No.51 Spa winning car driven by James Calado
In LMP2 the No.31 Le Mans LMP2 title defending car driven by Robin Frijns holds off challengers after a scintillating 3m28.394s lap.
This beats the No.41 Realteam by WRT car driven by Norman Nato by a huge 1.3s, while the No.22 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson is third with Filipe Albuquerque at the wheel.
No.38 JOTA entry places fourth ahead of Prema Orlen Team of Louis Deletraz and No.23 United Autosports car of Alex Lynn.
In the LMGTE Am class, the No.61 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Vincent Abril shades the Kessel Racing car of Mikkel Jensen to make it a Prancing Horse front-row lock-out.
Harry Tincknell secures third for Dempsey Proton Porsche heading Nicki Thiim in No.98 Northwest AMR Vantage.
No.54 AF Corse places fifth with Nick Cassidy at wheel, while Iron Dames take sixth thanks to Rahel Frey.