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By: Matt Beer

Summary

Status: Stopped
Keep an eye on Autosport.com and Motorsport.com over the course of the next couple of days for all the latest from Le Mans.
Thanks for joining us into the early hours of the morning and following all of the qualifying sessions, we'll be back around 1:30pm UK time on Saturday as we build-up to the race.
2018 Le Mans 24 Hours polesitters Alonso, Nakajima and Buemi celebrate at the end of final qualifying (Pic: LAT)

2018 Le Mans 24 Hours polesitters Alonso, Nakajima and Buemi celebrate at the end of final qualifying (Pic: LAT)

 
POLE POSITION POUR IDEC SPORT 👏👏🍾🍾 #LEMANS24 @EuropeanLMS @24hoursoflemans @memorojas15 @paulloup_chatin
 
 
Nakajima: “I’m very happy with the result, but I’m more happy with the car balance. We did everything we should have done. Ready for the race.

“We have a lot of support, we really hope that we can get the job done this year. The race is long, the race is tough, a lot will happen. I just hope that everything we prepared for the race [will work], and we can cross the finish line as the winner.”
Alonso points at Nakajima, who won the pole for the #8 Toyota, and says: "This guy."

It was a stunning lap that ended up two seconds clear of the sister car.
Robertson in the #10 Manor-Ginetta was the first car we queried the times of and it also drops down the order due to that scrutineering snafu, it's now down in 14th overall and last in LMP1.
We're seeing a few times now being deleted for missing the scrutineering light - missing the weigh-in , with the #3 Rebellion just dropping from third to fifth in class.
The #88 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR has the GTE Am class pole, impressively beating four GTE Pro contenders - including two of the new Aston Martins.
In GTE Pro, it's the #91 Porsche that has the class pole thanks to Bruni's mega lap yesterday.
The #28 TDS Racing ORECA 07 was top of LMP2, but it's been pulled up on a scrutineering infringement so Vaxiviere's best time is deleted and the #48 IDEC Sport ORECA is on class pole instead.
And the #8 Toyota leads a one-two for the Japanese manufacturer with Nakajima's time two seconds quicker than the #7 car's best!
You'd think there was a two-time Formula 1 world champion competing at Le Mans (Photo: LAT)

You'd think there was a two-time Formula 1 world champion competing at Le Mans (Photo: LAT)

 
It looks as though the majority of the field has called it a day. Well, the last five minutes of the day anyway.
And that's over as the #40 G-Drive Racing car of Gutierrez continues slowly.
Into the last seven minutes and we have a yellow flag.
Cameras around the track are looking increasingly damp, so it's no surprise to see just four cars on track.
Alonso's latest time on the wets is a 3m45.427s, which is a good 30s slower than the #8's provisional pole time.
 
 
Alonso's stop that led to the wet tyres being fitted (Photo: LAT)

Alonso's stop that led to the wet tyres being fitted (Photo: LAT)

Alonso has gone onto wets, even though the track conditions are clearly not requiring them. Looks like a bit more experience is being deposited in the bank for probably the best-prepared rookie in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
There's only the two Toyotas and the ByKolles machine on track in LMP1.
But Alonso's back out on track. The more running the better for the Le Mans rookie.
I suspect Sam Bird's conveyed the general feeling in the pitlane as the session enters the last half an hour.

"This car is staying right here [in the garage], there’s no point in going out in the rain at night," says Bird. "The track temperature is cold, we’re not about to rebuild our car!”
More rain news: It's sticking around until the end of the session. That's probably it from today's weather watch.
 
Alonso is told to “take no risk” and returns to the pits in the #8.
A further weather update, we're expecting more rain in just under 15 minutes.
Juan Pablo Montoya has his say on the trickier conditions in this final qualifying session:

“It’s difficult because the track is so dark, and you wonder how much water is really out there," he says. "You kind of have to guess because it’s too dark to tell.

"It makes it fun, the guys at United [Autosport] are a really good team. I’m learning, this place is very tough, I love the circuit, and the car is very different from what I’m used to.

"Honestly, it’s been a bit of a challenge. One of the toughest parts is you can be two seconds off the pace, and then the laptime comes – but the differential from lap to lap can be shocking.”
As the yellow flags are withdrawn, here's the current state of play in the LMP2 class with a little under 40 minutes to go.

1 #28 TDS ORECA; 2 #48 IDEC Sport ORECA; 3 #31 Dragonspeed ORECA; 4 #26 G-Drive Racing ORECA; 5 #23 Panis-Barthez Competition Ligier; 6 #36 Singnatech-Alpine; 7 #39 Graff S0-24 ORECA; 8 #22 United Autosports Ligier; 9 #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA;10 #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA
Slow zone down at Mulsanne corner, where the #88 Proton Porsche (the GTE Am provisional polesitter) looks to be in a spot of bother.
Oh look, another chance for a rain update. It's now increasing apparently.
 
Alonso is now out on track in the #8 Toyota.

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