Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb shared the qualifying driving duties to register a best two lap average of 1m36.473s in the No 18 Porsche 919 Hybrid. This eclipsed the second Porsche 919 Hybrid entry, driven by Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard, by just 0.069s.
Dumas started and finished the qualifying session, setting the fastest outright lap of qualifying with a scorching 1m36.192s. It sealed the second consecutive pole position for the No.18 Porsche 919 Hybrid and ensured that Team Porsche keep its 100% pole record so far in 2015.
Audi Sport Team Joest start the race from the second row as the No.8 Audi R18 etron quattro driven by Oliver Jarvis and Lucas Di Grassi lapped at a best average of 1m37.476s. This was just over 0.3s faster than the No.7 Audi R18 etron quattro driven by Marcel Fassler and Andre Lotterer.
The pair of Toyota TS040 LMP1 cars will start the race from fifth and sixth, with the No.1 TS040 ahead of the No.2 sister car. Toyota Racing, which is based less than an hour away in Cologne at the Toyota Motorsport GmbH headquarters, will be aiming for its first podium position since Silverstone tomorrow afternoon.
Rebellion Racing led the way as LMP1 privateers with the No 12 Rebellion R-One AER beating the No 13 example by just under half a second.
LMP2 saw a familiar frenetic battle, between the No.26 G-Drive Racing Ligier-Nissan driven by Julien Canal and Sam Bird and the Nick Tandy and Matt Howson crewed No.47 KCMG ORECA 05-Nissan.
Bird and Tandy fought furiously, trading quick laps in the final portion of the session. Ultimately, the spectacular Tandy set the quicker laps and combined with Howson’s earlier effort the average of 1m46.132s was enough for the team’s second consecutive pole position in the WEC.
Rounding out the top three in LMP2 was the Signatech entered Alpine A450B-Nissan, with Vincent Capillaire and Neslon Panciatici combining to provide their best qualifying performance of the year so far.
PIT NOTES
14:53:41 Fastest Non Hybrid LMP1 #12 Rebellion from #13 Rebellion and #4 CLM
14:52:31 In LMP2 Oreca #47 on pole from #26 Ligier and #36 Alpine
14:51:24 Porsche #18 on pole from Porsche #17 and Audi #8
14:50:07 Chequered Flag
14:49:50 Ligier #26 second in P2 with average of 1:46.505
14:49:03 Oreca #47 leads P2 with average of 1:46.132
14:48:08 Porsche #18 improves average to 1:36.473
14:47:25 Porsche #17 into 2nd with average of 1:36.542
14:46:27 1:46.561 23 lap average for Ligier #26 in P2
14:44:58 1:37.600 2 lap average for Audi #8
14:43:12 1:36.535 2 lap average for Porsche #18
14:40:31 All 17 LMPs have set a first driver time
14:39:26 1:46.249 fastest in P2 for Kane in #42 Gibson
14:38:02 1:36.391 for Bernhard in Porsche #17
14:37:18 Ligier #31 spins at the chicane - brief yellow flag
14:36:11 Ligier #26 under investigation for crossing pit exit white line
14:34:20 1:36.192 for Dumas in Porsche #18
14:32:10 Green Flag
14:23:30 In GTE Pro Ferrari #51 fastest from Ferrari #71 and Aston #95
14:23:29 In GTE Am Ferrari #72 fastest from Aston #98 and #77 Porsche
14:22:04 In GTE Pro Ferrari #51 fastest from Ferrari #71 and Aston #95
14:20:27 Chequered Flag
14:19:32 Aston #98 stopped at turn 9
14:18:15 1:54.330 2 lap average for Ferrari #71
14:17:44 1:54.275 2 lap average for Ferrari #51
14:15:33 1:54.498 average for Aston #95
14:14:05 All 14 GTE cars have set a first driver time - 2nd drivers now getting in
14:13:27 Pour le moment le meilleur temps revient à l'Aston Martin n°99 en LM GTE PRo
14:13:17 1:54.365 for Pilet in Porsche #92
14:09:35 Shaytar in #72 Ferrari fastest in GTE Am with 1:55.732
14:08:33 1:54.056 for Stanaway in Aston #99
14:05:48 1:53.964 for Sorensen in Aston #95
