With the continuing threat of rain, the track came alive at 22:00h as soon as the green flag dropped for the first official qualifying session for the 2013 24 Heures du Mans, the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Among the first out was Loîc Duval in the No.2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro and it took him just 12 minutes to set the fastest lap of the day, a stunning time of 3:22.349 giving him provisional pole position. Even his team mates in the No.3 and reigning WEC champions Lotterer-Tréluyer-Fässler in the No.1 Audis were unable to match the Frenchman’s speed, Di Grassi being two seconds behind and Lotterer three seconds. Toyota Racing put up a brave fight but trailed the Audis slightly; the No.8 with Buemi behind the wheel having an early night after ending up in the gravel.
Ahead of the Swiss driver by four tenths of a second was the No.12 Rebellion Racing Lola Toyota, the black, red and gold car being almost two seconds ahead of its No.13 sister car and six seconds ahead of the No.21 Strakka Racing HPD ARX 03c.
The key players in LMP2, of which there are many, promised much but in the end the leading three were the FIA WEC’s No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 03 Nissan, John Martin’s best time of 3:39.535 being over a second ahead of ELMS entrant Morand Racing. Just 0.04seconds behind, with a time of 3:40.780, was Olivier Pla in the No.24 OAK Racing Morgan Nissan.
LMGTE Pro was, as expected, a tight contest and Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin all had a turn at the top of the time sheets. In the end it was Fred Makowiecki in the No.99 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE who claimed provisional class pole on a fast lap of 3:55.658. Behind him were the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari and the No. 97 Aston Martin, Porsche being relegated to fifth and seventh in class.
Equally exciting was the LMGTE Am category, with the No.95 ‘Danish’ Aston Martin leading the way. Allan Simonsen turned a fastest lap of 3:58.661 to edge out the No.88 Proton Competition Porsche by half a second.
The session was once again ended early after the LMP2 ORECA Nissan of Thiriet by TDS Racing impacted the barriers at the Ralentisseur Michelin, but there is another opportunity for all entrants to try and improve their times tomorrow. Track action begins at 19:00h for two hours and then the second and final qualifying from 22:00h to midnight.
Full results can be found here
Fiona Miller
Photo: CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES (LE MANS, SARTHE), FIRST QUALIFYING FOR 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, WEDNESDAY, 19TH JUNE 2013. The No.99 Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE was the quickest of the LMGTE Pro entries.
