Le Mans 2017: Wednesday

01:17 Thanks very much for joining us for our coverage of the first day of Le Mans 2017. We've got a Toyota one-two on the grid so far, but there's another two sessions tomorrow. Here is our full report on today's action

Le Mans 24 Hours 2017: Toyota takes provisional pole on Wednesday

Toyota topped Wednesday evening's first qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours, with Kamui Kobayashi putting the #7 TS050 HYBRID on provisional pole in a shortened session

01:14

01:13 We can probably expect to see more pace from the GTE Pro field tomorrow, since the #95 Aston's provisional pole time of 3m52.117s is nearly a second away from last year's pole time (3m51.185s), albeit one set by a Ford GT now carrying more weight and producing less power. It's the opposite story in GTE Am, where Lauda's 3m55.134s is comfortably under last year's class pole of 3m56.827s.

01:08 TOP 61 #7 Toyota2 #8 Toyota3 #2 Porsche4 #9 Toyota5 #1 Porsche6 #4 CLM

01:07

01:07 So that confirms the pace step in the LMP2 class. The pole time last year was a 3m36.605s - this year it was a 3m29.333s!

01:01 That's the end of first qualifying. And it's a Toyota one-two with the #7 car leading the #8 example.

00:58 It looks done and dusted in LMP2, with Vaxiviere fastest in the #28 TDS ORECA ahead of Senna in the #31 Rebellion ORECA.

00:56 Here's how GTE Pro looks now we've seen a more representative time from Ford:

00:56 Lotterer in the #1 Porsche is the latest driver to be warned about track limits.

00:54 With just six minutes of the session remaining, Buemi makes his first appearance in the #8 Toyota in qualifying.

00:52 Andy Priaulx has just improved the #67 Ford's time to 3m54.118s, which puts it fifth in class.

00:48 The latest LMP2 order following Vaxiviere's fastest lap:

00:45 Vaxiviere goes fastest in LMP2 in the #28 TDS ORECA, with Senna slotting into second in the #31 Rebellion ORECA.

00:42 Lammers left the pits slowly in the #29 car

00:41 Vergne is having a go at retaking pole position, but will need something spectacular in the final sector to have any chance.

00:41 Petrov takes LMP2 pole in the #25 Manor ORECA. He's done a 3m30.502s.

00:40 The #29 RTN Dallara is touring in slowly.

00:40 Out of all of the LMP1 drivers, there is one that is yet to take to the track in this qualifying session: Buemi in the #8 Toyota. That could be a bit of a risk with the requirement of all drivers getting laps in the dark...

00:39 Petrov is on a quick lap - this could be quick enough to take class pole.

00:39 The team manager of the #29 RTN Dallara has been called to the stewards. Not sure why.

00:37

00:36 Polesitter Vergne is currently circulating in the #24 Manor ORECA. Petrov has just headed out in the #25 sister car.

00:35 Belicchi goes up to 15th in the #47 Villorba Corse Dallara.

00:31 Spot the spinning LMP2 car in the dark

00:30 Final few driver changes taking place now, with Sarrazin now in the table-topping #7 Toyota.

00:30 Rusinov improves to a 3m31.945s in the #26 G-Drive ORECA. That car is now seventh.

00:29 And Calko has managed to get going again. The difficulty was less recovering from the spin, more getting away from the barrier he'd got close to while trying to rejoin.

00:29 We'll complete the class-by-class set with the GTE Am leaders:

00:28 Yellow flags at Tertre Rouge.

00:28 Calko has gone off on the approach Tertre Rouge after putting a wheel on the grass. He's attempting to get back going again.

00:27 Aston, Ferrari, Porsche, Chevrolet is how the GTE Pro field ranks at the moment. The leading Fords are ninth and 10th:

00:26 Senna goes ninth in the #31 Rebellion ORECA with a 3m32.626s lap.

00:25 During this lull, Gary Watkins is trying to work out what to do with his birthday cake. In terms of storing it rather than eating it, we should add.

00:24 The leading positions in the deep LMP2 field:

00:23 The final drivers are now getting their laps with Lotterer and Hartley in the Porsches and Kunimoto has just jumped in the #9 Toyota.

00:22 It's quiet at the front of LMP2, but there's a couple of improvements. Bradley put the #40 Graff ORECA 16th, with Calko slotting in behind him in the #ARC Bratislava Ligier and McMurry taking 19th in the #45 Algarve Pro Racing Ligier.

00:21 Thanks to the delayed start to proceedings, we're already long past the halfway mark in this session (which finishes at 11pm BST). Here's a summary of what's happened so far:

LMP1: All of the fast times so far have come very early in the session, as expected. Currently it's a Toyota 1-2 with Kobayashi in the #7 machine on a 3m18.793s - 0.638 seconds ahead of Nakajima in the #8 car. In third is Bernhard in the #2 Porsche, almost a second off the pace. Completing the top five are Lapierre (#9 Toyota) and Jani (#1 Porsche) with 2.3s covering them all. The ByKolles is some 10s slower than Kobayashi.

LMP2: The Manor ORECAs hold first and second place, with Jean-Eric Vergne first with a 3m30.847s and Petrov just under a tenth behind. The #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing entry is third thanks to Laurent's lap, although the sister #37 machine has been stuck in the pits after an oil pressure spike was detected. The #27 SMP Dallara's session is over after it stopped with a fire, while the #34 Tockwith Ligier has also hit trouble. It has started moving again but still hasn't got it back and is slowly touring back now.

GTE Pro: the #95 AMR Aston Martin Vantage leads, courtesy of an early 3m52.117s lap by Marco Sorensen. Sam Bird fell just short with his early effort of 3m52.235s, which left the #71 AF Corse Ferrari second, just ahead of the sister #71 car whose 3m53.123s fastest lap was set by James Calado.

GTE Am: Aston Martin Racing leads GTE Am as well after Pedro Lamy set a 3m55.232s lap in the opening minutes, a commanding class lead that Mathias Lauda improved upon when he got in the car and went around in 3m55.134s. The #77 Porsche is second with a 3m55.692s set by Matteo Cairoli, and the #90 TF Sport Aston rounds out the top three on 3m55.953s.