Le Mans 24h: #7 Toyota tops Qualifying as Hyperpole slots locked in
Toyota #7 crew Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez topped the first qualifying session at the 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours, leading Alpine prior to Thursday's Hyperpole session.
Kobayashi set the session's benchmark time of 3m26.279s aboard his Toyota GR010 HYBRID in the first half of Wednesday night's one-hour qualifying, going over a second quicker than team-mate Brendon Hartley in the sister #8 car that currently leads the World Endurance Championship points standings.
In the second half of the session, Alpine driver Matthieu Vaxiviere split the two Toyotas with the second-fastest time, lapping eight tenths off Kobayashi's best in the #36 Alpine A480 Gibson.
The pair of Glickenhaus Racing 007 LMH cars finished fourth and fifth in the five-car class, with all LMH entrants progressing to Thursday night's Hyperpole shootout comprised of the six fastest entries in each class.
Test day pace-setter Olivier Pla set the fastest time in the #708 Glickenhaus, which beat the fastest of the LMP2 entries into fourth overall.
In LMP2, Antonio Felix da Costa brought his #26 Jota ORECA 07 Gibson to the top of the timesheets with a 3m29.144s effort, 23 minutes before the end of the session.
The outgoing Formula E champion was four tenths quicker than his successor Nyck de Vries, who set the second time aboard the #26 G-Drive Aurus 01 Gibson.
Louis Deletraz ensured that WRT will be present in the Hyperpole shootout on the Belgian squad's first time at Le Mans, the Swiss managing a best effort of 3m29.441s to go third ahead of Will Stevens in the #65 Panis Racing car.
#26 G-Drive Racing Aurus 01 - Gibson LMP2, Roman Rusinov, Franco Colapinto, Nyck De Vries
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
United Autosports managed to get two of its three cars into the Hyperpole session, with its #32 and #23 machines piloted by Nico Jamin and Paul di Resta both progressing at the expense of the WEC points-leading #22 entry of Filipe Albuquerque, Phil Hanson and Fabio Scherer, which only managed the 12th quickest effort.
The Le Mans GT lap record was broken by the top four runners in the GTE Pro class, as Ferrari locked out the top two spots.
Kevin Estre first dipped under the 3.47s barrier with a 3m46.779s lap in the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19, but that was subsequently beaten by Daniel Serra in the #52 AF Corse Ferrari, whose new benchmark of 3m46.011s remained unbeaten until the end of the session.
The second #51 AF Corse Ferrari in the hands of James Calado launched up to second in the closing stages, with Estre clinging onto third amid a late charge from Nick Tandy's #64 Corvette C8.R.
Tandy's 3m47.074s lap put him into fourth, ahead of the privateer HubAuto Porsche of Dries Vanthoor, with Gianmaria Bruni completing the top six in the #91 works Porsche.
After a closely contested GTE Am qualifying battle, in which the top five runners all lapped faster than the #63 GTE Pro Corvette, the #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche topped the table by virtue of Julian Andlauer's 3m48.620s lap.
The Frenchman beat fellow Porsche runner Ben Barker's early 2m49.100s benchmark in the GR Racing example, while the #47 Cetilar and #71 Inception Racing Ferraris also progressed to Hyperpole courtesy of Le Mans rookies Antonio Fuoco and Ben Barnicoat.
Matteo Cairoli (#56 Team Project 1 Porsche) and Felipe Fraga (#33 TF Sport Aston Martin) completed the top six.
The session was interrupted by an early full-course yellow for an off by IDEC Sport LMP2 driver Paul-Loup Chatin at Tertre Rouge, the Frenchman clattering the barriers in his #48 ORECA and losing his rear wing in the process.
Le Mans 24 Hours - Qualifying results:
| Cla | # | Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Avg Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 |  Mike Conway  Kamui Kobayashi  Jose Maria Lopez |
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid | HYPERCAR | 15 | 3'26.279 | |
| 2 | 36 |  Andre Negrao  Nicolas Lapierre Matthieu Vaxiviere |
Alpine A480 | HYPERCAR | 10 | 3'27.095 | 0.816 |
| 3 | 8 |  Sébastien Buemi Kazuki Nakajima  Brendon Hartley |
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid | HYPERCAR | 15 | 3'27.671 | 1.392 |
| 4 | 708 | Pipo Derani Franck Mailleux Olivier Pla |
Glickenhaus 007 LMH | HYPERCAR | 15 | 3'28.256 | 1.977 |
| 5 | 38 |  Roberto Gonzalez  Antonio Felix da Costa Anthony Davidson |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 10 | 3'28.807 | 2.528 |
| 6 | 26 |  Roman Rusinov Franco Colapinto  Nyck de Vries |
Aurus 01 | LMP2 | 12 | 3'29.246 | 2.967 |
| 7 | 709 |  Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Romain Dumas |
Glickenhaus 007 LMH | HYPERCAR | 13 | 3'29.381 | 3.102 |
| 8 | 41 |  Robert Kubica Louis Deletraz  Ye Yifei |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 12 | 3'29.441 | 3.162 |
| 9 | 65 | Julien Canal Will Stevens James Allen |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 11 | 3'29.508 | 3.229 |
| 10 | 32 | Nico Jamin  Jonathan Aberdein  Manuel Maldonado |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 11 | 3'29.688 | 3.409 |
| 11 | 23 | Paul di Resta Alex Lynn Wayne Boyd |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 11 | 3'29.830 | 3.551 |
| 12 | 28 |  Sean Gelael  Stoffel Vandoorne Tom Blomqvist |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 10 | 3'29.835 | 3.556 |
| 13 | 70 | Esteban Garcia Loic Duval Norman Nato |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 9 | 3'29.861 | 3.582 |
| 14 | 24 |  Patrick Kelly Gabriel Aubry Simon Trummer |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 10 | 3'30.123 | 3.844 |
| 15 | 48 | Paul Lafargue Paul-Loup Chatin Patrick Pilet |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 2 | 3'30.166 | 3.887 |
| 16 | 31 | Robin Frijns  Ferdinand Habsburg Charles Milesi |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 11 | 3'30.182 | 3.903 |
| 17 | 22 | Philip Hanson Fabio Scherer Filipe Albuquerque |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 11 | 3'30.234 | 3.955 |
| 18 | 21 |  Henrik Hedman Ben Hanley  Juan Pablo Montoya |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 9 | 3'30.323 | 4.044 |
| 19 | 82 |  Ryan Cullen Oliver Jarvis Felipe Nasr |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 12 | 3'30.418 | 4.139 |
| 20 | 30 | Rene Binder Guillermo Rojas Tristan Gommendy |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 11 | 3'30.691 | 4.412 |
| 21 | 17 | Dwight Merriman Thomas Laurent Ryan Dalziel |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 14 | 3'30.709 | 4.430 |
| 22 | 29 | Frits van Eerd Giedo van der Garde Job Van Uitert |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 9 | 3'30.843 | 4.564 |
| 23 | 34 | Jakub Smiechowski Renger van der Zande Alex Brundle |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 10 | 3'30.908 | 4.629 |
| 24 | 25 | John Falb  Roberto Merhi Rui Andrade |
Aurus 01 | LMP2 | 12 | 3'31.203 | 4.924 |
| 25 | 49 |  Anders Fjordbach Jan Magnussen Kevin Magnussen |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 13 | 3'31.830 | 5.551 |
| 26 | 20 | Dennis Andersen Ricky Taylor Marco Sorensen |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 13 | 3'32.252 | 5.973 |
| 27 | 44 |  Miro Konopka Oliver Webb Matej Konopka |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 12 | 3'32.446 | 6.167 |
| 28 | 1 | Tatiana Calderon  Sophia Flörsch Beitske Visser |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 12 | 3'32.598 | 6.319 |
| 29 | 84 | Takuma Aoki Nigel Bailly Matthieu Lahaye |
Oreca 07 | INNOVATIVE CAR | 12 | 3'33.538 | 7.259 |
| 30 | 39 | Vincent Capillaire Arnold Robin Maxime Robin |
Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 12 | 3'34.005 | 7.726 |
| 31 | 74 | James Winslow John Corbett Tom Cloet |
Ligier JSP 217 | LMP2 | 13 | 3'36.012 | 9.733 |
| 32 | 52 | Daniel Serra Miguel Molina Sam Bird |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 8 | 3'46.011 | 19.732 |
| 33 | 51 |  Alessandro Pier Guidi James Calado Côme Ledogar |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 9 | 3'46.581 | 20.302 |
| 34 | 92 | Kevin Estre Neel Jani Michael Christensen |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3 | 3'46.779 | 20.500 |
| 35 | 64 | Tommy Milner Nick Tandy Alexander Sims |
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R | LMGTE PRO | 13 | 3'47.074 | 20.795 |
| 36 | 72 | Dries Vanthoor Alvaro Parente Maxime Martin |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 12 | 3'47.599 | 21.320 |
| 37 | 91 | Gianmaria Bruni Richard Lietz Frédéric Makowiecki |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 6 | 3'47.624 | 21.345 |
| 38 | 79 | Cooper MacNeil Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 12 | 3'47.682 | 21.403 |
| 39 | 88 | Julien Andlauer Dominique Bastien Lance Arnold |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 10 | 3'48.620 | 22.341 |
| 40 | 86 | Michael Wainwright Benjamin Barker Tom Gamble |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 9 | 3'49.100 | 22.821 |
| 41 | 47 | Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto Antonio Fuoco |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 11 | 3'49.102 | 22.823 |
| 42 | 71 | Brendan Iribe Ollie Millroy Ben Barnicoat |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 7 | 3'49.462 | 23.183 |
| 43 | 56 |  Egidio Perfetti Matteo Cairoli Riccardo Pera |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 11 | 3'49.608 | 23.329 |
| 44 | 63 | Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor Nick Catsburg |
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R | LMGTE PRO | 12 | 3'49.643 | 23.364 |
| 45 | 33 | Ben Keating Dylan Pereira Felipe Fraga |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 8 | 3'49.663 | 23.384 |
| 46 | 80 | Matteo Cressoni Rino Mastronardi Callum Ilott |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 13 | 3'49.693 | 23.414 |
| 47 | 57 | Takeshi Kimura Scott Andrews Mikkel Jensen |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 13 | 3'49.715 | 23.436 |
| 48 | 99 | Harry Tincknell Vuttikhorn Inthraphuvasak Florian Latorre |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 11 | 3'49.788 | 23.509 |
| 49 | 54 | Thomas Flohr Giancarlo Fisichella Francesco Castellacci |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 12 | 3'49.829 | 23.550 |
| 50 | 83 | François Perrodo Nicklas Nielsen Alessio Rovera |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 8 | 3'49.881 | 23.602 |
| 51 | 77 | Christian Ried Jaxon Evans Matt Campbell |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 11 | 3'49.913 | 23.634 |
| 52 | 18 | Andrew Haryanto Alessio Picariello Marco Seefried |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 12 | 3'50.016 | 23.737 |
| 53 | 388 | Pierre Ehret Christian Hook Jeroen Bleekemolen |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 12 | 3'50.018 | 23.739 |
| 54 | 95 | John Hartshorne Ollie Hancock Ross Gunn |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 12 | 3'50.059 | 23.780 |
| 55 | 98 |  Paul Dalla Lana Nicki Thiim Marcos Gomes |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 11 | 3'50.156 | 23.877 |
| 56 | 85 | Rahel Frey Sarah Bovy Michelle Gatting |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 11 | 3'50.314 | 24.035 |
| 57 | 60 | Claudio Schiavoni Paolo Ruberti Raffaele Giammaria |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 12 | 3'50.768 | 24.489 |
| 58 | 777 | Satoshi Hoshino Tomonobu Fujii Andrew Watson |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 11 | 3'51.107 | 24.828 |
| 59 | 46 | Dennis Olsen Anders Buchardt Robert Foley |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 10 | 3'51.411 | 25.132 |
| 60 | 55 | Duncan Cameron David Perel Matthew Griffin |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 12 | 3'52.088 | 25.809 |
| 61 | 66 | Thomas Neubauer Rodrigo Sales Jody Fannin |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 12 | 3'52.304 | 26.025 |
| 62 | 69 | Robert Renauer Ralf Bohn Rolf Ineichen |
Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 10 | 3'52.960 | 26.681 |
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