Porsche bags Le Mans top slot 12 | 06 | 2014
PORSCHE BAGGED PROVISIONAL pole position for this weekend's 82nd Le Mans 24-Hours after Kiwi Brendon Hartley topped the timesheets at the end of the opening qualifying session.
Hartley lapped the 8.27-mile road-based circuit in 3min 23.157secs in the No20 Porsche 919 Hybrid (pictured) he shares with Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard.
Related: Audi ace Loic Duval ruled out of Le Mans after smash
The German manufacturer locked-out an impressive 1-2 when the team's second car, driven by Neel Jani — and shared by Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas — was second-fastest with a 3m23.928s.
This is the first time Porsche has returned to the world's most famous endurance race for 16 years: it's already won at Le Mans on 16 occasions.
The top six was rounded out by the two Toyotas, ahead of the two Audis which contested qualifying. The third Audi, car No1 which was involved in a hour 170mph crash in free practice, will be rebuilt in time for tonight's final qualifying session.
Porsche Driver Quotes:
Car No20:
Timo Bernhard: “In free practice we were working very hard and gathered a lot of data to improve the car. Because of red flags the first qualifying session was cut in half. I think it will be a tough fight on Thursday in the remaining sessions.”
Brendon Hartley: “It was a good first run at the start of the first qualifying. I was surprised to see that I topped the timing monitor. But obviously it is the very beginning of qualifying and we have a long way to go. Now we will continue the test-programme. I think we have already learned a lot from today.“
Mark Webber: “I didn’t catch the smoothest window for my run in qualifying. The yellow flags were not great for the rhythm. But we have made good progress with the car since free practice, and I feel more comfortable in it than I did at the pre-race test. I have just had my first experience of driving at night in Le Mans for 15 years and I’m looking forward to getting more of this.”
Car No14:
Romain Dumas: “My team-mates have shown that the car was a lot better in qualifying than it had been in free practice – quicker in all three sectors. Of course we cannot judge our competitors yet, but we are making progress with our car. Overall it was a difficult day with accidents and red flags.“
Neel Jani: “I didn't get a free run in the beginning because there were yellow flags and I had to slow down twice. Under such circumstances, I'm pleased with my best lap time as I couldn’t really attack. Now we hope we can push on Thursday without being slowed-down by yellow flags and try to further improve our lap times. We have made good progress on the set-up since free practice, which you can see by the time sheets. I think we can go even faster.“
Marc Lieb: “My qualifying run was way from ideal because of all the yellow and red flags. I had no clear lap and no chance to get into a rhythm. At least I now need just one more lap in the dark to be able to qualify. In free practice we struggled a bit with the set-up, and for qualifying we made quite a few changes which guided us in the right direction. I think we are heading in a good way.“
Le Mans 24-Hours — First Qualifying Session (Top 6):
1. P1 Bernhard/Webber/Hartley Porsche 3m23.157s
2. P1 Dumas/Jani/Lieb Porsche 3m23.928s
3. P1 Wurz/Sarrazin/Nakajima Toyota 3m25.313s
4. P1 Davidson/Lapierre/Buemi Toyota 3m25.410s
5. P1 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer Audi 3m26.388s
6. P1 Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Jarvis Audi 3m26.445s
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Jim McGill