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Bourdais clinches pole for Peugeot

Peugeot hammered home its advantage over Audi in final qualifying for this weekend's Le Mans 24 Hours by cementing its sweep of the first two rows of the grid

Le Mans born Sebastien Bourdais was the man to clinch pole position, with his 3m19.711s effort on Wednesday proving good enough to grasp the top spot.

Stephane Sarrazin, who had taken the last three consecutive 24 Hours poles, was denied the opportunity to extend his streak when the final stint in the #2 car was given to Nicolas Minassian.

Audi had closed the gap to the Peugeots, with first Allan McNish moving into the 3m22s and then Mike Rockenfeller launching one into the 3m21s - less than eight tenths slower than the fourth-placed ORECA Peugeot.

But just as Audi's hopes of challenging Peugeot's dominant pace gathered steam, the French marque sent its cars out for one last crushing run.

None of the four cars improved their times over the benchmarks they set on Wednesday, but Bourdais, Minassian and Nicolas Lapierre shared purple sectors lap after lap to underline the cushion they have enjoyed over Audi since rolling the 908s off the trucks.

"It was a really, really strong effort," said Bourdais. "Everyone is really happy with the performance of the car and how comfortable it is to drive it. I am very proud to put the #3 car on pole, but this is only the start.

"Obviously we are happy that they [Audi] didn't put on a great show, or display a great amount of speed, but honestly we just focused on our own things - to make our car the fastest one and to be in a good position for the race. Then the tough job is still ahead of us, so we're not going to get carried away. We will just stay smart and be conservative when we have to.

"I'm impressed with the margin of progress we displayed [over last year]. The way the car drives now compared to last year is very much appreaciated. I couldn't really throw it all before, but now I really feel like I can."

Danny Watts and Strakka Racing took the LMP2 class lead back from Highcroft in the battle of the HPDs. David Brabham had swept ahead in this evening's earlier qualifying segment, but Watts countered early on tonight with an effort another 1.5s quicker.

Tomas Enge's best lap from Wednesday proved enough to hold on to the GT1 top spot. Bas Leinders had moved the #70 Marc VDS Ford GT into second earlier this evening and tonight Romain Grosjean took his Matech-run Ford into third.

Olivier Beretta and Antonio Garcia vaulted the two works Corvettes ahead of the remaining AF Corse Ferrari to second and third in GT2. But Gianmaria Bruni's Wednesday effort in the #82 Risi Competizione Ferrari stood unbeaten at the head of the class.

There were fewer incidents in the final two hours of qualifying as teams closed in on their final race preparations. Though the Dunlop chicane still claimed a hat-trick of victims after some drizzle mid-way through the session - the #88 Felbermayr Porsche, Bryce Miller in the JMW Aston Martin and Jean Alesi in the AF Corse Ferrari all had a spin on the approach.

The #24 Oak Racing Pescarolo stopped on the track between the Esses and Tertre Rouge, and Oliver Jarvis had to limp back to the pits in the #15 Kolles Audi R10 after its left rear tyre disintegrated.

Pos Drivers                       Cls Car                Time     Gap
 1. Lamy/Bourdais/Pagenaud        P1  Peugeot 908        3:19.711
 2. Wurz/Davidson/Gene            P1  Peugeot 908        3:20.317 +0.606
 3. Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian   P1  Peugeot 908        3:20.325 +0.614
 4. Panis/Lapierre/Duval          P1  ORECA Peugeot 908  3:21.192 +1.481
 5. Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller   P1  Audi R15           3:21.981 +2.270
 6. Kristensen/McNish/Capello     P1  Audi R15           3:22.176 +2.465
 7. Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer     P1  Audi R15           3:23.605 +3.894
 8. Mucke/Fernandez/Primat        P1  Lola-Aston Martin  3:26.680 +6.969
 9. Turner/Hancock/Barazi         P1  Lola-Aston Martin  3:26.747 +7.036
10. Ayari/Andre/Meyrick           P1  ORECA 01-AIM       3:29.506 +9.795
11. Mailleux/Ragues/Ickx          P1  Signature Aston    3:29.774 +10.063
12. Bouchut/Tucker/Rodrigues      P1  Kolles Audi R10    3:30.907 +11.196
13. Jarvis/Albers/Bakkerud        P1  Kolles Audi R10    3:31.661 +11.950
14. Pirro/Cocker/Drayson          P1  Drayson Lola       3:31.862 +12.151
15. Watts/Kane/Leventis           P2  Strakka HPD ARX-01 3:33.079 +13.368
16. Jani/Andretti/Prost           P1  Rebellion Lola     3:33.490 +13.779
17. Brabham/Franchitti/Werner     P2  Highcroft HPD      3:34.537 +14.826
18. N.Mansell/G.Mansell/L.Mansell P1  Beechdean Ginetta  3:36.897 +17.186
19. Belicchi/Boullion/Smith       P1  Rebellion Lola     3:37.093 +17.382
20. Erdos/Newton/Wallace          P2  RML Lola HPD       3:39.648 +19.937
21. Hughes/Amaral/Pla             P2  ASM Ginetta-Zytek  3:40.532 +20.821
22. Moreau/Charouz/Lahaye         P2  Oak Pescarolo      3:41.310 +21.599
23. Lewis/Burgess/Willman         P1  Autocon Lola-AER   3:43.167 +23.456
24. Pirri/Cioci/Perrazzini        P2  Racing Box Lola    3:47.971 +28.260
25. Greaves/Ojjeh/Chalandon       P2  Bruichladdich      3:51.189 +31.478
26. Noda/Pourtales/Kennard        P2  KSM Lola-Judd      3:51.310 +31.599
27. Hein/Nicolet/Yvon             P2  Oak Pescarolo      3:52.008 +32.297
28. Schell/da Rocha/Zollinger     P2  Pegasus Norma      3:52.837 +33.126
29. P.Salini/S.Salini/Gommendy    P2  WR/Salini WR       3:53.109 +33.398
30. Rostan/Meichtry/Bruneau       P2  Race Perf Radical  3:53.942 +34.231
31. Enge/Nygaard/Kox              GT1 YD Aston           3:55.025 +35.314
32. Leinders/Palttala/de Doncker  GT1 Marc VDS Ford GT   3:55.356 +35.645
33. Grosjean/Mutsch/Hirschi       GT1 Matech Ford GT     3:55.583 +35.872
34. Jousse/Gouselard/Massen       GT1 Alphand Corvette   3:58.810 +39.099
35. Policand/Gregoire/Hart        GT1 Alphand Corvette   3:58.906 +39.195
36. Bruni/Melo/Kaffer             GT2 Risi Ferrari       3:59.233 +39.522
37. Gavin/Beretta/Collard         GT2 Corvette           3:59.435 +39.724
38. O'Connell/Magnussen/Garcia    GT2 Corvette           3:59.793 +40.082
39. Alesi/Fisichella/Vilander     GT2 AF Corse Ferrari   3:59.837 +40.126
40. Allemann/Gachnang/Frey        GT1 Matech Ford GT     4:01.628 +41.917
41. Lieb/Lietz/Henzler            GT2 Felbermayr Porsche 4:01.640 +41.929
42. Pilet/Narac/Long              GT2 IMSA Porsche       4:01.755 +42.044
43. Farfus/J.Muller/Alzen         GT2 BMW M3             4:01.893 +42.182
44. Westbrook/Scheider/Holzer     GT2 BMS Porsche        4:02.014 +42.303
45. Farnbacher/Simonsen/Keen      GT2 Hankook Ferrari    4:02.427 +42.716
46. Bergmeister/Law/Neiman        GT2 Fl. Lizard Porsche 4:02.685 +42.974
47. Gardel/Berville/Canal         GT1 Larbre Saleen      4:03.175 +43.464
48. Priaulx/D.Muller/Werner       GT2 BMW M3             4:03.215 +43.504
49. Krohn/Jonsson/van de Poele    GT2 Risi Ferrari       4:03.959 +44.248
50. Coronel/Dumbreck/Bleekemolen  GT2 Spyker             4:04.057 +44.346
51. Bell/Sugden/Miller            GT2 JMW Aston Martin   4:04.303 +44.592
52. Yogo/Iiri/Yamanishi           GT1 JLOC Lamborghini   4:05.170 +45.459
53. v.Splunteren/Hommerson/MachielGT2 Prospeed Porsche   4:10.017 +50.306
54. Felbermayr/Felbermayr/Konopka GT2 Felbermayr Porsche 4:10.054 +50.343
55. Goossens/Dalziel/Gentilozzi   GT2 Jaguar XKR         4:12.431 +52.720
56. Salo/Russo/Companc            GT2 AF Corse Ferrari   withdrawn

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