Porsche will start 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours on pole

    Neel Jani, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb set the best time of 3m16.887s in their 919 Hybrid.

    Published On Jun 13, 2015 08:26:00 AM

    2,025 Views

    The trio of Porsche 919 Hybrids will start the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours from the top three positions of the grid after maintaining their supremacy in final qualifying.

    Neel Jani's time of 3m16.887s in the No.18 Porsche he shares with Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb, set early in the first of three qualifying sessions, was good enough to hold on to top spot. It is the fastest pole lap set at Le Mans since the introduction of the chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight, and the sixth fastest in history in terms of laptime regardless of configuration. It is also the first Porsche to take pole at Le Mans since Michele Alboreto in the Joest WSC 95 in 1997.

    Timo Bernhard qualified the No.17 Porsche second, and the No.19 car was the third fastest. Audi sealed positions four through six. The No.8 Audi is placed fourth, with the No.7 car of 2014 winners Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler behind it in fifth. Filipe Albuquerque and his No.9 Audi are in sixth.

    Toyota continued to struggle, ending up 2.5s behind the slowest Audi and 6.656s off the outright pace with its lead car, the No.2 machine qualified by Stephane Sarrazin, in seventh ahead of the No.1 machine qualified by Buemi.

    Rebellion held on to ninth and tenth place, with fellow LMP1 privateer ByKolles 11th with its CLM, which jumped up the order in the hands of Pierre Kaffer. This was despite a late attack from Nissan, with Harry Tincknell putting the No.22 GT-R LM NISMO into 12th place with just over 10 minutes remaining. The No.23 car of Jann Mardenborough was relegated to 13th, with the No.21 Nissan of Tsugio Matsuda in 15th place and behind the fastest LMP2 car.
     

    Copyright (c) Autosport. All rights reserved.

    Comments

    ×
    img

    No comments yet. Be the first to comment.

    Ask Autocar Anything about Car and Bike Buying and Maintenance Advices
    Need an expert opinion on your car and bike related queries?
    Ask Now

    Search By Car Price

    Poll of the month

    The Creta will be the third Hyundai N-Line model in India. Should more mass-market brands have sporty sub-brands?

    Yes, it's something special for enthusiasts

     

    18.36%

    Yes, but only if there is increased performance

     

    44.40%

    No, it's just a gimmick to increase the price

     

    29.37%

    It doesn't always work; just look at Tata JTP

     

    7.87%

    Total Votes : 1563
    Sign up for our newsletter

    Get all the latest updates from the automobile universe