In the first of the three qualifying sessions ahead of the 87th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the no7 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid was on provisional pole position at the end of the 2 hour session in the dark.
This was despite a collision at the final corner with the no31 Dragonspeed Oreca, which was rejoining the track right in front of the no7 Toyota. The resulting contact damaged both cars with both heading back to the pits for repairs.
Kamui Kobayashi set a lap time of 3m17.161 in the no7 Toyota prior to the collision, which was good enough to fend off a determined challenge from the no17 SMP Racing BR1-AER, which finished the session just 0.472s behind the lead Toyota.
The no67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford GT of Harry Tincknell set the fastest time in the LMGTE Pro category, with the British driver’s time of 3m49.530 just 0.028s fastest than the no93 Porsche 911 RSR and 0.5 seconds ahead of the no97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage.
The no31 Dragonspeed Oreca was the fastest of the large LMP2 entry, despite the crash with the no7 Toyota. Pastor Maldonado’s time of 3m26.806 was just a tenth of a second ahead of the no36 Signatech Alpine Matmut A470, with the no22 United Autosports Ligier third fastest in 3m27.338.
The no88 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR was the fastest car in the LMGTE Am category with Matteo Cairoli setting a 3m52.464 lap. It was a Porsche 1-2-3 with the Italian’s lap 0.3 seconds ahead of the class championship leading car the no56 Team Project 1 Porsche, with the no77 Porsche 911 in third spot one second behind the lead car.
The second and third qualifying sessions will take place on Thursday evening starting at 19h00, with the fastest car in the three sessions claiming the coveted pole position for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, round 8 of the 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship.