Le Mans 24h: Kobayashi grabs pole for #7 Toyota ahead of sister car
Kamui Kobayashi delivered Toyota pole position for the 89th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, holding off team-mate Brendon Hartley in Thursday night's Hyperpole shootout.
In the 30-minute session, featuring the fastest six cars from each class, Kobayashi drew first blood by setting a lap of 3m23.900s on his first attempt, over a second quicker than stablemate Hartley in the #8 Toyota.
Olivier Pla was third fastest in the #708 Glickenhaus, a full 2.5 seconds in arrears but two seconds ahead of Nicolas Lapierre, who struggled on his first lap in the #36 Alpine A480.
However, the red flag soon came out when Kevin Estre, the fastest man in GTE all week, spun off and went into the wall at Indianapolis in his #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19.
After a brief interruption Kobayashi stayed just marginally above his benchmark, while Hartley moved within three tenths with laps of 3m24.230s and then 3m24.195s. Lapierre improved to move third with a 3m26.015s, which he followed up with a 3m25.574s.
Lapierre's lap was nearly four tenths faster than Pla's 3m25.996s, while Dumas was a distant fifth in the second #709 Glickenhaus entry.
#38 JOTA Oreca 07 - Gibson LMP2, Roberto Gonzalez, Antonio Felix Da Costa, Anthony Davidson
Photo by: Nick Dungan / Motorsport Images
In LMP2, Antonio Felix da Costa and Louis Deletraz initially traded the top spot, with Da Costa securing pole with a 3m27.950s lap in the #38 Jota ORECA 07 Gibson, half a second up on Deletraz in the #41 WRT Oreca.
Will Stevens was third in the #65 Panis Racing Oreca, just one tenth behind Deletraz, followed by G-Drive's Nyck de Vries and United Autosports pair Nico Jamin and Paul Di Resta.
In GTE Pro, the timing of Estre's off meant the remaining five cars had to wait until after the restart for their first flying laps, but it also meant the clear favourite for pole was out of contention.
Dries Vanthoor went fastest on the first run in the #72 HubAuto Porsche 911 RSR-19, his 3m46.882s two tenths quicker than Daniel Serra in the #52 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and Nick Tandy in the #64 Corvette C8.R.
The Belgian's lap held up until the end, taking pole for the Asian team's privately entered car.
James Calado was fourth in the second #51 AF Corse Ferrari, four tenths removed from pole, with Gianmaria Bruni settling for fifth in the sole remaining factory Porsche.
#88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE Am, Julien Andlauer, Dominique Bastien, Lance Arnold
Photo by: Porsche
Porsche secured a clean sweep of the top three in GTE Am, with Julien Andlauer taking pole in the #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche with a 3m47.987s effort.
Andlauer stayed over five tenths clear of the #86 GR Racing Porsche of Ben Barker and put nine tenths on the third-placed #56 Team Project 1 Porsche of Matteo Cairoli.
Le Mans 24 Hours - Hyperpole results
| Cla | # | Drivers | Car | Class | Avg Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 |  Mike Conway  Kamui Kobayashi  Jose Maria Lopez | Toyota GR010 - Hybrid | HYPERCAR | 3'23.900 | |
| 2 | 8 |  Sébastien Buemi Kazuki Nakajima  Brendon Hartley | Toyota GR010 - Hybrid | HYPERCAR | 3'24.195 | 0.295 |
| 3 | 36 |  Andre Negrao  Nicolas Lapierre Matthieu Vaxiviere | Alpine A480 | HYPERCAR | 3'25.574 | 1.674 |
| 4 | 708 | Pipo Derani Franck Mailleux Olivier Pla | Glickenhaus 007 LMH | HYPERCAR | 3'25.639 | 1.739 |
| 5 | 709 |  Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Romain Dumas | Glickenhaus 007 LMH | HYPERCAR | 3'26.931 | 3.031 |
| 6 | 38 |  Roberto Gonzalez  Antonio Felix da Costa Anthony Davidson | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'27.950 | 4.050 |
| 7 | 41 |  Robert Kubica Louis Deletraz  Ye Yifei | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.470 | 4.570 |
| 8 | 65 | Julien Canal Will Stevens James Allen | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'28.586 | 4.686 |
| 9 | 26 |  Roman Rusinov Franco Colapinto  Nyck de Vries | Aurus 01 | LMP2 | 3'28.943 | 5.043 |
| 10 | 32 | Nico Jamin  Jonathan Aberdein  Manuel Maldonado | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'29.078 | 5.178 |
| 11 | 23 | Paul di Resta Alex Lynn Wayne Boyd | Oreca 07 | LMP2 | 3'30.027 | 6.127 |
| 12 | 72 |  Dries Vanthoor Alvaro Parente Maxime Martin | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'46.882 | 22.982 |
| 13 | 52 | Daniel Serra  Miguel Molina Sam Bird | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 3'47.063 | 23.163 |
| 14 | 64 |  Tommy Milner Nick Tandy Alexander Sims | Chevrolet Corvette C8.R | LMGTE PRO | 3'47.093 | 23.193 |
| 15 | 51 |  Alessandro Pier Guidi James Calado Côme Ledogar | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 3'47.247 | 23.347 |
| 16 | 91 | Gianmaria Bruni  Richard Lietz Frédéric Makowiecki | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | 3'47.696 | 23.796 |
| 17 | 88 | Julien Andlauer Dominique Bastien  Lance David Arnold | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'47.987 | 24.087 |
| 18 | 86 | Michael Wainwright Benjamin Barker Tom Gamble | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'48.560 | 24.660 |
| 19 | 56 |  Egidio Perfetti Matteo Cairoli Riccardo Pera | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 3'48.876 | 24.976 |
| 20 | 47 | Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto Antonio Fuoco | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'49.387 | 25.487 |
| 21 | 71 | Brendan Iribe Ollie Millroy Ben Barnicoat | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 3'49.477 | 25.577 |
| 22 | 33 | Ben Keating  Dylan Pereira Felipe Fraga | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 3'49.676 | 25.776 |
| 23 | 92 | Kevin Estre Neel Jani  Michael Christensen | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE PRO | ||
| View full results | ||||||
Previous article
Le Mans 24h: Alpine quickest in disrupted FP3 as Toyota #8 crashes
Next article
Vanthoor hails "lap of my life" after shock Le Mans GTE Pro pole
Can Toyota's #7 crew break its Le Mans curse?
One Toyota, normally with the number 7 on the side, always seems to attract the bad luck in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez are hoping for a change in fortune this time around, but face significantly more unknowns than in recent years
How to prepare an amateur for Le Mans sensory overload
The 23-car GTE Am field promises to be one of the most open in this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, with the added jeopardy of managing the enthusiasm of amateur drivers to boot, as Absolute Racing Porsche driver Marco Seefried explains
Why Glickenhaus should be taken seriously on its Le Mans bow
Many were quick to dismiss Glickenhaus when the boutique American sportscar firm's entry into the top class of the Le Mans 24 Hours was announced. It's all-new LMH racer, powered by an engine built by a rally specialist, goes in as the underdog against Toyota but the mathematical odds suggest that it has more than just a faint hope of success
The Asian underdog taking on the mighty GT factories at Le Mans
The rising HubAuto team steps up to GTE Pro at Le Mans this year for an ambitious bid to take on the three works giants – and has every reason to be optimistic of achieving its goal in becoming the first privateer on the podium since 2016
How 1971's benchmark Le Mans team lost with the best car
The JW Automotive Engineering team won twice at the Le Mans 24 Hours with ageing Fords and were considered heavy favourites to add more victories to its tally after partnering with Porsche. But despite being armed with the all-conquering 917, this formidable combination was never as successful in real life as on the big screen
Why Argentina’s current great isn’t motivated by emulating Fangio
Having twice missed out on Formula 1 and reinvented himself as a touring car driver, Jose Maria Lopez has had a rocky ride to becoming a four-time world champion. One more would put him level with his nation's favourite son, but there's another prize he would value far more than the honour of matching Juan Manuel Fangio's tally
Why Le Mans' hidden gem will produce its most unpredictable race
OPINION: Much attention in the build-up to the Le Mans 24 Hours is naturally devoted to the battle for outright honours. But the slim field in the Hypercar class as it gets established means the best battle will likely be found in an often-ignored division
The understated Le Mans legend who has earned a testimonial
OPINION: After 24 Le Mans 24 Hours participations, 50-year-old Emmanuel Collard will be absent from the grid this year, stuck at the mercy of his gold driver grading. But, while he's not motivated by breaking start records, the French veteran is determined to return to the field next year
