Le Mans (AFP)
The two Toyotas, favorites of the 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans in the premier Hypercars category, were once again separated by the Alpine during the first qualifying practice Wednesday on the Sarthe circuit.
As in the afternoon in free practice 1, the Totoya N.7 of Conway, Kobayashi and Lopez dominated the debates, with a time of 3 min 26 sec 279/1000 achieved by the Japanese.
It is ahead of the Alpine N.36 by 816/1000 and the Toyota N.8 by 1 sec 392/1000.
Alpine confirms its position as outsider on the eve of the Hyperpole which will determine the first places on the starting grid of the classic Le Mans on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT).
The six fastest vehicles in each of the four categories (Hypercar, LMP2, LMGTE pro and LMGTE Am) qualify for the Hyperpole at the end of these qualifying tests.
As the Hypercars are only five in number, they were automatically.
The LMP2 on the other hand lost ground compared to the first free practice.
The Hanson, Scherer and Albuquerque trio Oreca N.22 were just behind the leader's Top 3 at 132/1000 earlier in the day.
The Oreca N.38, the first LMP2 in the qualifying standings, finished in 5th place and 2 seconds 528/100 behind the Toyota despite the good time (3: 28.807) of Antonio Felix Da Costa.
Behind, the Aurus N.26 of Rusinov, Colapinto and de Vries also fell below 3 minutes 30 (3: 29.246).
As for the former Formula 1 players, if the Pole Robert Kubica will compete in the Hyperpole thanks to his time with the Oreca N.41, this will not be the case for Kevin Magnussen (20th), at the wheel of the Oreca N. 49.
The Alpine Hypercar N.36 driven by the Brazilian Andre Negaro during the first free practice of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, August 18, 2021 JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER AFP
The first night free practice will be held on Wednesday between 10 p.m. and midnight (8 p.m.-10 p.m.).
The classification of qualifying practice:
1. Mike Conway - Kamui Kobayashi - José Maria Lopez (GBR-JPN-ARG / Toyota N.7 / Hypercar / hybrid) 3: 26.279
2. André Negrao - Nicolas Lapierre - Matthieu Vaxiviere (BRA-FRA-FRA / Alpine N.36 / Hypercar) 3: 27.095
3. Sébastien Buemi - Kazuki Nakajima - Brendon Hartley (SUI-JPN-NZL / Toyota N.8 / Hypercar / hybrid) 3: 27.671
4. Luis Felipe Derani - Franck Mailleux - Olivier Pla (BRA-FRA-FRA / Glickenhaus N.708 / Hypercar) 3: 28.256
5. Roberto Gonzalez - Antonio Felix Da Costa - Anthony Davidson (MEX-POR-ENG / Oreca N.38 / LMP2) 3: 28.807
...
32. Daniel Serra - Miguel Molina - Sam Bird (BRA-ESP-ENG / Ferrari N.52 / LMGTE pro) 3: 46.011
39. Julien Andlauer - Dominique Bastien - Lance Arnold (FRA-USA-GER / Porsche N.88 / LMGTE Am) 3: 48.620
The qualified for the Hyperpole:
.
Hypercar:
Mike Conway - Kamui Kobayashi - José Maria Lopez (GBR-JPN-ARG / Toyota N.57 / hybrid) 3: 26.279
André Negrao - Nicolas Lapierre - Matthieu Vaxiviere (BRA-FRA-FRA / Alpine N.36) 3: 27.095
Sébastien Buemi - Kazuki Nakajima - Brendon Hartley (SUI-JPN-NZL / Toyota N.8 / hybrid) 3: 27.671
Luis Felipe Derani - Franck Mailleux - Olivier Pla (BRA-FRA-FRA / Glickenhaus N.708) 3: 28.256
Ryan Briscoe - Richard Westbrook - Romain Dumas (AUS-GBR-FRA / Glickenhaus N.709) 3: 29.381
.
LMP2:
Roberto Gonzalez - Antonio Felix Da Costa - Anthony Davidson (MEX-POR-GBR / Oreca N.38) 3: 28.807
Roman Rusinov - Franco Colapinto - Nyck de Vries (RUS * -ARG-NED / Aurus N.26) 3: 29.246
Robert Kubica - Louis Deletraz - Yiefel Ye (POL-SUI-CHI / Oreca N.41) 3: 29.441
Julien Canal - William Stevens - James Allen (FRA-GBR-AUS / Oreca N.65) 3: 29.508
Nicolas Jamin - Jonathan Aberdein - Manuel Maldonado (FRA-RSA-COL / Oreca N.32) 3: 29.688
Paul Di Resta - Alexander Lynn Wayne Boyd (GBR-GBR-GBR / Oreca N.23) 3: 29.830
.
LMGTE Pro:
Daniel Serra - Miguel Molina - Sam Bird (BRA-ESP-GBR / Ferrari N.52) 3: 46.011
Alessandro Pier Guidi - James Calado - Côme Ledogar (ITA-GBR-FRA / Ferrari N.51) 3: 46.581
Kévin Estre - Neel Jani - Michael Christensen (FRA-SUI-DEN / Porsche N.92) 3: 46.779
Tommy Milner - Nick Tandy - Alexander Sims (USA-GBR-GBR / Corvette N.64) 3: 47.074
Alvaro Parente - Dries Vanthoor - Maxime Martin (POR-BEL-BEL / Porsche N.72) 3: 47.599
Gianmaria Bruni - Richard Lietz - Frédéric Makowiecki (ITA-AUT-FRA / Porsche N.91) 3: 47.624
.
LMGTE Am:
Julien Andlauer - Dominique Bastien - Lance Arnold (FRA-USA-GER / Porsche N.88) 3: 48.620
Michael Wainwright - Benjamin Barker - Tom Gamble (GBR-GBR-GBR / Porsche N.86) 3: 49.100
Roberto Lacorte - Giorgio Sernagiotto - Antonio Fuoco (ITA-ITA-ITA / Ferrari N.47) 3: 49.102
Brendan Iribe - Ollie Millroy - Ben Barnicoat (USA-GBR-GBR / Ferrari N.71) 3: 49.462
Egidio Perfetti - Matteo Cairoli - Riccardo Pera (NOR-ITA-ITA / Porsche N.56) 3: 49.608
Ben Keating - Dylan Pereira - Felipe Fraga (USA-LUX-BRA / Aston Martin N.33) 3: 49.663
© 2021 AFP