2013 24 Hours of Le Mans : Qualifying Preview

Results from the first qualifying session, held from 10 p.m. to midnight at the Circuit de la Sarthe on June 19, showed the Audis in fine form. The Audis will need to maintain as much as 1.2 seconds per lap advantage over the Toyotas to overcome the fuel deficit imposed by the ACO--the gasoline-hybrid Toyotas are allowed to carry an extra 3 liters of fuel, enough for a one or two lap advantage over the Audis. 

So far, the Audi pace is safely ahead of the Toyotas, with the slowest of the three R18 e-tron quattros ahead by 1.2 seconds from the fastest Toyota. The leading Audi, piloted by Tom Kristensen along with Allan McNish and Loic Duval, has set a blistering time of 3:22.349. Just under two seconds behind is the R18 of Marc Gene, Lucas Di Grassi, and Oliver Jarvis at 3:24.341, followed by the Audi of Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler, and Benoit Treluyer at 3:25.474.

Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer are looking to make the 2013 race their third overall win and third pole position in a row, having taken top marks in 2011 and 2012. Of course, the other Audis will also be aiming to start and finish in front. But then, so will the Toyotas.

The top Toyota TS030 Hybrid is piloted by the trio of Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre, and Kazuki Nakajima, earning a time of 3:26.676 in the first qualifying session. The second Toyota team of Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi, and Stephane Sarrazin was a touch off that mark at 3:30.841.

The top non-factory team in the LMP1 ranks is the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota car, with Nicolas Prost, Neel Jani, and Nick Heidfeld sharing the wheel. The top Rebellion time was 3:30.423, just ahead of the second Toyota factory team.

Oliver Pla pulled a stonker out of the bag to secure LMP2 pole position for OAK Racing and teammates David Heinemeier-Hansson and Alex Brundle, just ahead of early leaders John Martin, Mike Conway and Roman Rusinov in the G-Drive Racing ORECA. Martin’s fastest lap on Wednesday had looked good for provisional LMP2 pole before a final run from Pla eroded the one-second deficit.

Aston Martin Racing continued their dominant run in the GT class, with no. 99 teammates Bruno Senna, Rob Bell and Frederic Makowiecki and no. 97 drivers Stefan Mucke, Darren Turner and Peter Dumbreck – who avoided taking off this year – scrapping for Pro class honours until the chequered flag in their Vantage V8s. GT standings leaders Senna, Bell and Makowiecki ultimately came out on top.

Allan Simonsen, Kristian Poulsen and Christoffer Nygaard completed the Aston duo by cementing Am class pole position in the Vantage V8. Abdulaziz Turki Al Faisal and Khaled Al Qubaisi meanwhile kept the Middle East flags flying in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 they are sharing with Andrea Bertolini. Keep watching this space for more!