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Buemi improves twice to lead Toyota 1-2 in first Le Mans test day

The two Toyotas were separated by just under a second at the end of the Le Mans 24 Hours test day after Sebastien Buemi found big improvements in the afternoon

Buemi posted a 3m20s.068s lap, four tenths up on team-mate Fernando Alonso's previous best, with just over an hour to go and then improved again to a 3m19s.440s time in the closing minutes of the afternoon session.

That put the #8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID 1.1s up on the sister car in which Kamui Kobayashi set a 3m20.586s at the beginning of a session lasting four hours, before Mike Conway improved to 3m20.249s.

Buemi said: "It was all about making sure you didn't get traffic.

"The times were a tiny bit slower than last year, but the track was getting cooler at the end, so we should have seen similar lap times."

The P1 times were down on this time last year, when the conditions were cooler for much of the test day, which finished with Alonso topping the times on a 3m19.066s lap.

The top privateer 12 months ago was Thomas Laurent, who ended up on a 3m19.680s aboard the #3 Rebellion-Gibson R-13.

This time Andre Lotterer was the quickest of the non-hybrid LMP1s after finding a big improvement in the closing stages to end up on 3m21.323s in the #1 Rebellion.

Stoffel Vandoorne, who undertook his first laps of the full Le Mans circuit during the test, then jumped to fourth ahead of the second Rebellion with a 3m22.061s in the #11 SMP Racing BRE-AER BR1 to go fourth fastest.

Nathanael Berthon took fifth with a 3m22.194s in the #3 Rebellion just ahead of Stephane Sarrazin in the #17 SMP entry.

The Jackie Chan DC Racing squad led the way in LMP2.

Ho-Pin Tung got down to a 3m28.504s lap in the #38 Chan/DC ORECA-Gibson 07 to end up two tenths clear of Pastor Maldonado's 3m28.769s in the DragonSpeed ORECA.

Nicolas Lapierre managed a 3m28.997s in the Signatech Alpine ORECA to take third in class.

Corvette Racing again headed the GTE Pro class with the #63 car, pictured below.

Mike Rockenfeller topped the times with a 3m54.001s to end up just three hundredths faster than the Ganassi Ford GT in which Harry Tincknell posted a 3m54.032s earlier in the four-hour session.

The second Chevrolet Corvette C7.R took third with a late 3m54.036s lap from Tommy Milner.

Davide Rigon was fourth in the best of the factory AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTEs with a 3m54.103s.

The top Porsche was the US-entered #93 car in which Nick Tandy recorded a 3m54.223s. The top 12 GTE Pro car, incorporating entries from Chevrolet, Ford, Ferrari and Aston Martin, were separated by less than a second.

The GTE Pro times were some way off those from qualifying for last year's 24 Hours. Pole position was claimed by Gianmaria Bruni's 3m47.504s.

The Scuderia Corsa-run WeatherTech Racing Ferrari led the way in GTE Am with a 3m56.862s from Toni Vilander.

Result

Pos Class Driver Team Car Gap Laps
1 LMP1 Sebastien Buemi Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota 3m19.440s 37
2 LMP1 Mike Conway Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota 0.809s 33
3 LMP1 Fernando Alonso Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota 0.986s 29
4 LMP1 Kamui Kobayashi Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota 1.146s 41
5 LMP1 Jose Maria Lopez Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota 1.184s 38
6 LMP1 Kazuki Nakajima Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota 1.825s 37
7 LMP1 Andre Lotterer Rebellion Racing Rebellion/Gibson 1.883s 34
8 LMP1 Stoffel Vandoorne SMP Racing BR Engineering/AER 2.621s 30
9 LMP1 Nathanael Berthon Rebellion Racing Rebellion/Gibson 2.754s 26
10 LMP1 Stephane Sarrazin SMP Racing BR Engineering/AER 2.759s 26
11 LMP1 Thomas Laurent Rebellion Racing Rebellion/Gibson 2.792s 28
12 LMP1 Mikhail Aleshin SMP Racing BR Engineering/AER 3.492s 14
13 LMP1 Gustavo Menezes Rebellion Racing Rebellion/Gibson 3.641s 30
14 LMP1 Egor Orudzhev SMP Racing BR Engineering/AER 3.917s 24
15 LMP1 Vitaly Petrov SMP Racing BR Engineering/AER 4.009s 17
16 LMP1 Sergey Sirotkin SMP Racing BR Engineering/AER 5.349s 20
17 LMP1 Renger van der Zande DragonSpeed BR Engineering/Gibson 5.771s 7
18 LMP1 Ben Hanley DragonSpeed BR Engineering/Gibson 6.313s 9
19 LMP1 Tom Dillmann ByKOLLES Racing Team ENSO CLM/Nissan 7.551s 27
20 LMP1 Neel Jani Rebellion Racing Rebellion/Gibson 7.633s 18
21 LMP1 Brendon Hartley Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota 7.698s 5
22 LMP1 Bruno Senna Rebellion Racing Rebellion/Gibson 8.911s 25
23 LMP2 Ho-Pin Tung Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA/Gibson 9.064s 31
24 LMP2 Pastor Maldonado DragonSpeed ORECA/Gibson 9.329s 23
25 LMP2 Nicolas Lapierre Signatech Alpine Matmut Alpine/Gibson 9.557s 20
26 LMP2 Stephane Richelmi Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA/Gibson 10.022s 35
27 LMP2 Tristan Gommendy Graff-SO24 ORECA/Gibson 10.461s 32
28 LMP2 Anthony Davidson DragonSpeed ORECA/Gibson 10.775s 31
29 LMP2 Loic Duval TDS Racing ORECA/Gibson 10.879s 20
30 LMP2 Jean-Eric Vergne G-Drive Racing Aurus/Gibson 11.017s 29
31 LMP2 Nyck de Vries Racing Team Nederland Dallara/Gibson 11.234s 37
32 LMP2 Nicolas Jamin Duqueine Engineering ORECA/Gibson 11.275s 34
33 LMP2 Pierre Ragues Duqueine Engineering ORECA/Gibson 11.387s 25
34 LMP2 Alex Brundle United Autosports Ligier/Gibson 11.407s 29
35 LMP2 Romain Dumas Duqueine Engineering ORECA/Gibson 11.498s 20
36 LMP2 Andrea Pizzitola Algarve Pro Racing ORECA/Gibson 11.634s 21
37 LMP1 Henrik Hedman DragonSpeed BR Engineering/Gibson 11.670s 15
38 LMP2 Paul-Loup Chatin Idec Sport Racing ORECA/Gibson 11.892s 26
39 LMP2 Job van Uitert G-Drive Racing Aurus/Gibson 11.996s 34
40 LMP2 David Heinemeier Hansson Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA/Gibson 12.201s 19
41 LMP2 Will Stevens Panis Barthez Competition Ligier/Gibson 12.254s 22
42 LMP2 Andre Negrao Signatech Alpine Matmut Alpine/Gibson 12.524s 25
43 LMP2 Giedo van der Garde Racing Team Nederland Dallara/Gibson 12.602s 28
44 LMP2 Norman Nato RLR M Sport/Tower Events ORECA/Gibson 12.752s 8
45 LMP2 Filipe Albuquerque United Autosports Ligier/Gibson 12.802s 24
46 LMP2 Jonathan Hirschi Graff-SO24 ORECA/Gibson 12.852s 26
47 LMP2 Arjun Maini RLR M Sport/Tower Events ORECA/Gibson 12.956s 40
48 LMP2 Giorgio Sernagiotto Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara/Gibson 13.111s 24
49 LMP2 Pierre Thiriet Signatech Alpine Matmut Alpine/Gibson 13.312s 26
50 LMP2 Matthieu Vaxiviere TDS Racing ORECA/Gibson 13.485s 24
51 LMP2 Vincent Capillaire Graff-SO24 ORECA/Gibson 13.548s 24
52 LMP2 Roman Rusinov G-Drive Racing Aurus/Gibson 13.628s 30
53 LMP2 Roberto Gonzalez DragonSpeed ORECA/Gibson 13.649s 30
54 LMP2 Gabriel Aubry Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA/Gibson 13.741s 25
55 LMP2 Paul Di Resta United Autosports Ligier/Gibson 13.744s 23
56 LMP2 Mathias Beche High Class Racing ORECA/Gibson 13.762s 14
57 LMP2 Ricky Taylor Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA/Gibson 13.839s 10
58 LMP1 Oliver Webb ByKOLLES Racing Team ENSO CLM/Nissan 14.061s 10
59 LMP2 Memo Rojas Idec Sport Racing ORECA/Gibson 14.228s 21
60 LMP2 Paul Lafargue Idec Sport Racing ORECA/Gibson 14.726s 31
61 LMP2 Jordan King Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA/Gibson 14.738s 21
62 LMP2 Konstantin Tereschenko ARC Bratislava Ligier/Gibson 14.882s 24
63 LMP2 Ryan Cullen United Autosports Ligier/Gibson 14.883s 51
64 LMP2 Phil Hanson United Autosports Ligier/Gibson 14.915s 35
65 LMP2 Anders Fjordbach High Class Racing ORECA/Gibson 14.940s 28
66 LMP2 David Zollinger Algarve Pro Racing ORECA/Gibson 15.161s 26
67 LMP1 Paolo Ruberti ByKOLLES Racing Team ENSO CLM/Nissan 15.274s 10
68 LMP2 Julien Canal Panis Barthez Competition Ligier/Gibson 15.311s 24
69 LMP2 Nigel Moore Inter Europol Competition Ligier/Gibson 15.547s 33
70 LMP2 Nick Boulle Larbre Competition Ligier/Gibson 16.017s 29
71 LMP2 Andrea Belicchi Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara/Gibson 16.723s 28
72 LMP2 Rene Binder Panis Barthez Competition Ligier/Gibson 17.429s 30
73 LMP2 Timothe Buret Panis Barthez Competition Ligier/Gibson 18.403s 10
74 LMP2 Francois Perrodo TDS Racing ORECA/Gibson 18.616s 41
75 LMP2 Erwin Creed Larbre Competition Ligier/Gibson 18.655s 18
76 LMP2 Romano Ricci Larbre Competition Ligier/Gibson 18.725s 20
77 LMP2 Jakub Smiechowski Inter Europol Competition Ligier/Gibson 18.858s 19
78 LMP2 John Falb Algarve Pro Racing ORECA/Gibson 20.087s 25
79 LMP2 James Winslow Inter Europol Competition Ligier/Gibson 20.126s 26
80 LMP2 Henning Enqvist ARC Bratislava Ligier/Gibson 20.506s 18
81 LMP2 Roberto Lacorte Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara/Gibson 20.638s 22
82 LMP2 James French Algarve Pro Racing ORECA/Gibson 21.436s 10
83 LMP2 John Farano RLR M Sport/Tower Events ORECA/Gibson 23.308s 40
84 LMP2 Frits van Eerd Racing Team Nederland Dallara/Gibson 23.349s 19
85 LMP2 Dennis Andersen High Class Racing ORECA/Gibson 23.564s 42
86 LMP2 Miro Konopka ARC Bratislava Ligier/Gibson 24.996s 33
87 GTE Pro Mike Rockenfeller Corvette Racing - GM Chevrolet 34.561s 37
88 GTE Pro Harry Tincknell Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford 34.592s 15
89 GTE Pro Tommy Milner Corvette Racing - GM Chevrolet 34.596s 28
90 GTE Pro Davide Rigon AF Corse Ferrari 34.663s 18
91 GTE Pro Nick Tandy Porsche GT Team Porsche 34.793s 30
92 GTE Pro Gianmaria Bruni Porsche GT Team Porsche 34.839s 27
93 GTE Pro Andy Priaulx Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford 35.017s 40
94 GTE Pro Stefan Mucke Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford 35.020s 24
95 GTE Pro James Calado AF Corse Ferrari 35.057s 18
96 GTE Pro Daniel Serra AF Corse Ferrari 35.062s 25
97 GTE Pro Antonio Garcia Corvette Racing - GM Chevrolet 35.093s 27
98 GTE Pro Earl Bamber Porsche GT Team Porsche 35.119s 28
99 GTE Pro Alex Lynn Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 35.143s 17
100 GTE Pro Jan Magnussen Corvette Racing - GM Chevrolet 35.180s 27
101 GTE Pro Sam Bird AF Corse Ferrari 35.212s 22
102 GTE Pro Richard Westbrook Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ford 35.278s 39
103 GTE Pro Dirk Muller Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ford 35.344s 23
104 GTE Pro Oliver Gavin Corvette Racing - GM Chevrolet 35.398s 26
105 GTE Pro Olivier Pla Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford 35.543s 27
106 GTE Pro Mathieu Jaminet Porsche GT Team Porsche 35.556s 34
107 GTE Pro Dennis Olsen Porsche GT Team Porsche 35.632s 20
108 GTE Pro Alessandro Pier Guidi AF Corse Ferrari 35.674s 35
109 GTE Pro Michael Christensen Porsche GT Team Porsche 35.716s 15
110 GTE Pro Ryan Briscoe Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ford 35.718s 33
111 GTE Pro Joey Hand Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ford 35.728s 27
112 GTE Pro Jonathan Bomarito Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford 35.736s 35
113 GTE Pro Richard Lietz Porsche GT Team Porsche 35.757s 21
114 GTE Pro Marco Sorensen Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 35.797s 14
115 GTE Pro Patrick Pilet Porsche GT Team Porsche 35.798s 29
116 GTE Pro Oliver Jarvis Risi Competizione Ferrari 35.858s 13
117 GTE Pro Miguel Molina AF Corse Ferrari 35.926s 21
118 GTE Pro Nicki Thiim Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 35.934s 14
119 GTE Pro Kevin Estre Porsche GT Team Porsche 36.002s 37
120 GTE Pro Jules Gounon Risi Competizione Ferrari 36.092s 15
121 GTE Pro Jonny Adam Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 36.102s 30
122 GTE Pro Billy Johnson Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford 36.288s 21
123 GTE Pro Maxime Martin Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 36.477s 24
124 GTE Pro Pipo Derani Risi Competizione Ferrari 36.522s 16
125 GTE Pro Martin Tomczyk BMW Team MTEK BMW 36.975s 35
126 GTE Pro Sven Muller Porsche GT Team Porsche 37.075s 20
127 GTE Pro Laurens Vanthoor Porsche GT Team Porsche 37.278s 26
128 GTE Pro Antonio Felix da Costa BMW Team MTEK BMW 37.302s 26
129 GTE Pro Augusto Farfus BMW Team MTEK BMW 37.331s 26
130 GTE Pro Frederic Makowiecki Porsche GT Team Porsche 37.360s 27
131 GTE Am Toni Vilander WeatherTech Racing Ferrari 37.422s 16
132 GTE Am Matt Griffin Clearwater Racing Ferrari 37.483s 23
133 GTE Am Giancarlo Fisichella Spirit of Race Ferrari 37.495s 15
134 GTE Pro Darren Turner Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 37.503s 22
135 GTE Pro Nicky Catsburg BMW Team MTEK BMW 37.513s 26
136 GTE Am Francesco Castellacci Spirit of Race Ferrari 37.779s 26
137 GTE Pro Marcel Fassler Corvette Racing - GM Chevrolet 37.883s 21
138 GTE Am Kei Cozzolino CarGuy Racing Ferrari 37.895s 34
139 LMP2 Christian Philippon Larbre Competition Ligier/Gibson 38.076s 9
140 GTE Pro Jesse Krohn BMW Team MTEK BMW 38.120s 26
141 GTE Am Andrea Piccini Kessel Racing Ferrari 38.293s 22
142 GTE Pro Philipp Eng BMW Team MTEK BMW 38.299s 23
143 GTE Am Ben Barker Gulf Racing Porsche 38.309s 25
144 GTE Am Julien Andlauer Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 38.341s 17
145 GTE Am Olivier Beretta MR Racing Ferrari 38.608s 32
146 GTE Am Michelle Gatting Kessel Racing Ferrari 38.822s 24
147 GTE Am Pedro Lamy Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 38.852s 30
148 GTE Am Matt Campbell Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 38.894s 24
149 GTE Am Matteo Cressoni Clearwater Racing Ferrari 38.942s 31
150 GTE Am Vincent Abril Proton Competition Porsche 39.084s 19
151 GTE Am Mathias Lauda Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 39.352s 33
152 GTE Am Euan Hankey TF Sport Aston Martin 39.403s 25
153 GTE Am Rodrigo Baptista JMW Motorsport Ferrari 39.415s 26
154 GTE Am Matteo Cairoli Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 39.426s 22
155 GTE Am Eddie Cheever MR Racing Ferrari 39.477s 15
156 GTE Pro Ross Gunn Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 39.730s 26
157 GTE Am Louis Prette Jr. Proton Competition Porsche 39.976s 32
158 GTE Am Jorg Bergmeister Team Project 1 Porsche 39.978s 19
159 GTE Am Jeff Segal JMW Motorsport Ferrari 40.015s 15
160 GTE Am Sergio Pianezzola Kessel Racing Ferrari 40.047s 26
161 GTE Am Egidio Perfetti Team Project 1 Porsche 40.117s 14
162 GTE Am Come Ledogar CarGuy Racing Ferrari 40.185s 15
163 GTE Am Jeroen Bleekemolen Keating Motorsports Ferrari 40.285s 20
164 GTE Am Patrick Long Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 40.334s 12
165 GTE Am Patrick Lindsey Team Project 1 Porsche 40.675s 14
166 GTE Am Charlie Eastwood TF Sport Aston Martin 40.748s 18
167 GTE Am Felipe Fraga Keating Motorsports Ferrari 40.751s 23
168 GTE Am Thomas Flohr Spirit of Race Ferrari 40.978s 36
169 GTE Am Giorgio Roda Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 41.095s 23
170 GTE Am Luis Perez-Companc Clearwater Racing Ferrari 41.182s 37
171 GTE Am Ben Keating Keating Motorsports Ferrari 41.840s 23
172 GTE Am Cooper MacNeil WeatherTech Racing Ferrari 41.880s 15
173 GTE Am Wei Lu JMW Motorsport Ferrari 42.075s 25
174 GTE Am Nic Jonsson Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 42.165s 21
175 GTE Am Salih Yoluc TF Sport Aston Martin 42.516s 35
176 GTE Am Thomas Preining Gulf Racing Porsche 42.763s 16
177 GTE Am Paul Dalla Lana Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 43.284s 34
178 GTE Am Takeshi Kimura CarGuy Racing Ferrari 43.386s 42
179 GTE Am Rahel Frey Kessel Racing Ferrari 43.697s 26
180 GTE Am Motoaki Ishikawa MR Racing Ferrari 45.255s 40
181 GTE Am Tracy Krohn Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 46.884s 34
182 GTE Am Philippe Prette Proton Competition Porsche 47.063s 28
183 GTE Am Christian Ried Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 47.148s 35
184 GTE Am Manuela Gostner Kessel Racing Ferrari 47.635s 31
185 GTE Am Rob Smith WeatherTech Racing Ferrari 47.812s 22
186 GTE Am Mike Wainwright Gulf Racing Porsche 49.064s 36
187 GTE Am Claudio Schiavoni Kessel Racing Ferrari 51.044s 25


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