PEUGEOT DOMINATE LE MANS QUALIFYING
At the end of the final qualifying, the Peugeot stranglehold on the top four places could not be broken. It was clear that the Audis had no answers, but the question remains if they are playing a long game rather than taking risks. It remains to be seen if they have a response to give during the race.
Former Formula One driver Sebastien Bourdais clinched pole position in his 908 TDI thanks to a stunning lap of three minutes 19.711seconds around the 13.629 kilometre circuit.
Sebastien Bourdais' quickest time from Wednesday evening remained unbeaten on the second day of qualifying.- photo credit - Jean Philippe BOYER - ACO/Nikon
Another ex-F1 racer, Alex Wurz, will start second with Stephane Sarrazin third on the grid. Nicolas Lapierre was fourth in the customer ORECA Peugeot, all three also taking their places courtesy of their times from first qualifying.
LM P2 leaders the #42 Strakka Racing LMP2 HPD ARX.01 driven by Nick Leventis, Danny Watts and Jonny Kane and the #26 Highcroft Racing LMP2 HPD ARX.01 driven by David Brabham, Marino Franchitti and Marco Werner made a sandwich of the LM P1 tail enders #12 Rebellion in the ‘mildly moist’ conditions in the final qualifying session.
The hottest battle for grid positions was in LM GT1 and LM GT2 with #52 Young Driver AMR LMGT1 Aston Martin DBR9 driven by Christoffer Nygaard, Tomas Enge and Peter Kox at the top of GT1 and #82 Risi Competizione LMGT2 Ferrari F 430 GT driven by Jaime Melo, Gianmaria Bruni and Pierre Kaffer leading GT2, who were so confident that they elected to pack up and go home early.
LM GT2- Gianmaria Bruni – Risi Competizione
“I have done my best time after four laps. I had a little bit of traffic and might have been faster, but it was enough to be on pole. I am very happy. Of course, the new asphalt played a key role. The race in the GT2 class will be tough because the Corvettes are really fast. We’ll see what we can do!”
LM P2- Danny Watts – Strakka Racing
“The pole is fantastic and I am really pleased, but this is a very small part of it. I had a bit of traffic, but there is always here at Le Mans. The good thing is that the car is easy and very comfortable to drive. I think that we have a very good package for the race.”
Nigel Mansell and sons - Greg and Leo - photo Philippe CHEMIN
Nigel Mansell will make his first appearance on the full 8.47-mile La Sarthe circuit in the opening free practice session for the 2010 edition. He has his work cut out today as both he and his son Greg will have to complete ten laps to qualify. His other son, Leo only has to do three laps for the family team as he raced there last year in a GT2 Ferrari.
Pos Drivers Cls Car Time Gap 1. Lamy/Bourdais/Pagenaud P1 Peugeot 908 3:19.711 2. Wurz/Davidson/Gene P1 Peugeot 908 3:20.317 +0.606 3. Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian P1 Peugeot 908 3:20.325 +0.614 4. Panis/Lapierre/Duval P1 ORECA Peugeot 908 3:21.192 +1.481 5. Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller P1 Audi R15 3:23.578 +3.867 6. Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer P1 Audi R15 3:24.430 +4.719 7. Kristensen/McNish/Capello P1 Audi R15 3:24.688 +4.977 8. Mucke/Fernandez/Primat P1 Lola-Aston Martin 3:26.680 +6.969 9. Turner/Hancock/Barazi P1 Lola-Aston Martin 3:26.747 +7.036 10. Mailleux/Ragues/Ickx P1 Signature Aston 3:29.774 +10.063 11. Ayari/Andre/Meyrick P1 ORECA 01-AIM 3:30.056 +10.345 12. Bouchut/Tucker/Rodrigues P1 Kolles Audi R10 3:30.907 +11.196 13. Jarvis/Albers/Bakkerud P1 Kolles Audi R10 3:31.661 +11.950 14. Brabham/Franchitti/Werner P2 Highcroft HPD 3:34.537 +14.826 15. Watts/Kane/Leventis P2 Strakka HPD ARX-01 3:36.168 +16.457 16. Pirro/Cocker/Drayson P1 Drayson Lola 3:36.634 +16.923 17. Mansell/Mansell/Mansell P1 Beechdean Ginetta 3:36.897 +17.186 18. Belicchi/Boullion/Smith P1 Rebellion Lola 3:37.093 +17.382 19. Jani/Andretti/Prost P1 Rebellion Lola 3:41.007 +21.296 20. Hughes/Amaral/Pla P2 ASM Ginetta-Zytek 3:41.968 +22.257 21. Moreau/Charouz/Lahaye P2 Oak Pescarolo 3:42.399 +22.688 22. Lewis/Burgess/Willman P1 Autocon Lola-AER 3:43.167 +23.456 23. Erdos/Newton/Wallace P2 RML Lola HPD 3:44.598 +24.887 24. Pirri/Cioci/Perrazzini P2 Racing Box Lola 3:47.971 +28.260 25. Hein/Nicolet/Yvon P2 Oak Pescarolo 3:52.730 +33.019 26. Schell/da Rocha/Zollinger P2 Pegasus Norma 3:52.837 +33.126 27. Noda/Pourtales/Kennard P2 KSM Lola-Judd 3:52.972 +33.261 28. Enge/Nygaard/Kox GT1 YD Aston 3:55.025 +35.314 29. Leinders/Palttala/de Doncker GT1 Marc VDS Ford GT 3:55.356 +35.645 30. Greaves/Ojjeh/Chalandon P2 Bruichladdich 3:55.680 +35.969 31. Salini/Salini/Gommendy P2 WR/Salini WR 3:55.818 +36.107 32. Rostan/Meichtry/Bruneau P2 Race Perf Radical 3:56.679 +36.968 33. Grosjean/Mutsch/Hirschi GT1 Matech Ford GT 3:57.296 +37.585 34. Jousse/Gouselard/Massen GT1 Alphand Corvette 3:58.810 +39.099 35. Policand/Gregoire/Hart GT1 Alphand Corvette 3:58.906 +39.195 36. Bruni/Melo/Kaffer GT2 Risi Ferrari 3:59.233 +39.522 37. Alesi/Fisichella/Vilander GT2 AF Corse Ferrari 3:59.837 +40.126 38. O'Connell/Magnussen/Garcia GT2 Corvette 4:00.097 +40.386 39. Gavin/Beretta/Collard GT2 Corvette 4:01.012 +41.301 40. Lieb/Lietz/Henzler GT2 Felbermayr Porsche 4:01.640 +41.929 41. Pilet/Narac/Long GT2 IMSA Porsche 4:01.755 +42.044 42. Farfus/J Muller/Alzen GT2 BMW M3 4:01.893 +42.182 43. Westbrook/Scheider/Holzer GT2 BMS Porsche 4:02.014 +42.303 44. Bergmeister/Law/Neiman GT2 Fl. Lizard Porsche 4:02.685 +42.974 45. Gardel/Berville/Canal GT1 Larbre Saleen 4:03.175 +43.464 46. Priaulx/D Muller/Werner GT2 BMW M3 4:03.215 +43.504 47. Farnbacher/Simonsen/Keen GT2 Hankook Ferrari 4:03.886 +44.175 48. Krohn/Jonsson/van de Poele GT2 Risi Ferrari 4:03.959 +44.248 49. Coronel/Dumbreck/Bleekemolen GT2 Spyker 4:04.057 +44.346 50. Yogo/Iiri/Yamanishi GT1 JLOC Lamborghini 4:05.796 +46.085 51. Allemann/Gachnang/Frey GT1 Matech Ford GT 4:06.286 +46.575 52. Bell/Sugden/Miller GT2 JMW Aston Martin 4:06.391 +46.680 53. Felbermayr/Felbermayr/Konopka GT2 Felbermayr Porsche 4:10.054 +50.343 54. v.Splunteren/Hommerson/MachielGT2 Prospeed Porsche 4:11.161 +51.450 55. Goossens/Dalziel/Gentilozzi GT2 Jaguar XKR 4:13.537 +53.826 56. Salo/Russo/Companc GT2 AF Corse Ferrari withdrawn
