2019 24 Hours of Le Mans – Practice and Qualifying

Toyota Gazoo Racing Locks Out the Front Row Ahead of the Le Mans 24 Hours

The final round of the 2018-2019 FIA WEC Super Season returned to Le Mans, marking the 87th running of the iconic 24-hour race organised by the ACO. With Toyota having secured the manufacturer’s championship for the LMP1 category in the previous round, the race ahead would be decisive in determining the drivers championship. The #8 Toyota TS050 driven by Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Fernando Alonso led its #7 sister car, piloted by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and José María López, by 31 points in the drivers championship going into Round 8 where a finishing positiong of 7th or higher would hand the #8 car drivers the world championship. Similarly, the LMP2 category drivers championship was open between the #36 Signatech Alpine of Nicolas Lapierre, Pierre Thiriet and André Negrão, leading its class, and the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing of Ho-Pin Tung, Gabriel Aubry and Stéphane Richelmi. Porsche had wrapped up both the LMGTE Pro and Am categories as a manufacturer with Kévin Estre and Michael Christensen only needing a 10th place finish to win the Pro category for the Porsche GT Team. The Am category drivers title had already been secured as the points lead for Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey and Edigio Perfetti became unassailable after the 7th Round, handing Project 1 the championship victory in its debut season.

The Sunday and Monday before the 87th Edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans saw the teams and drivers in the City of Le Mans for pre-race scrutineering and an opportunity for fans to meet and greet the drivers. 62 cars and 185 drivers were confirmed to enter the race. Fans would get another opportunity to meet the drivers and get close to the cars on Tuesday’s Pit Walk session. On Wednesday’s Free Practice Session, the #7 Toyota’s pace became immediately apparent, setting a time of 3:18.091 (driven by Kobayashi), almost two seconds ahead of the #11 SMP Racing BR Engineering. The LMP2 category was fiercely competitive with less than 2 seconds covering the five fastest cars in the session, with the #48 Idec Sport leading. Likewise the LMGTE Pro class saw tight competition with the fastest to 13th fastest cars being separated by less than 2 seconds over the 13.6km circuit. Matt Campbell at the wheel of the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR set the fastest time in the LMGTE Am category. Practice was red flagged, however, was Tracy Krohn crashed heavily after the second chicane on the Mulsanne Straight in the #99 Dempsey-Proton Porsche whose chassis was heavily damaged. Not only was the American driver advised by FIA medical staff not to compete in racing for a week, the car was withdrawn from competition in spite of the team being understood to have made an effort to rebuild the #99 car around a new chassis. As a result, the 62-car grid was reduced the 61 starters.

Qualifying saw the #7 Toyota show a dominant performance where Kobayashi led set the fastest time in Q1 with a time of 3:17.161, leading the #17 SMP Racing BR Engineering, driven by Egor Orudzhev, by almost half a second and Thomas Laurent in the #3 Rebellion Racing by 2.4 seconds. Pastor Maldonado of the #31 DragonSpeed topped the LMP2 timesheets ahead of Lapierre in the #36 Signatech Alpine and Filipe Albuquerque piloting the #22 United Autosports. The second qualifying session would see Kobayashi set an even faster time of 3:15.497, on his first lap, which was particularly impressive as the #7 Toyota was forced to undergo repairs due to a collision the previous night when Conway collided with Roberto Gonzalez driving the #31 DragonSpeed at the Ford Chicanes. Kobayashi’s times were sufficient to set pole position in the LMP1 class while the #8 Toyota closed the gap as Nakajima lapped only 0.4 seconds behind. Though the #11 and #17 SMP Racing cars were slower over the lap than the pair of Toyotas, their greater straight line speed compared to the hybrid cars would position them as a threat in the initial stages of the race. Tristan Gommendy set the fastest time late in the final qualifying session for the #39 Graff in the LMP2 category but due to failing to be weighed at scrutineering, the #39 car’s times prior to the infringement were all excluded, forcing it to start 14th in its class. As a result, Loïc Duval’s of the #28 TDS Racing inherited pole position in LMP2. After being somewhat off the pace in earlier sessions, Aston Martin Racing was able to claim pole position in the LMGTE Pro class with the #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR’s Marco Sorensen setting pole in his category whilst Matteo Cairoli rounded off the fastest car in class, leading the LMGTE Am pack at the wheel of the #88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR.

61 cars and 182 drivers qualified for the 87th 24 Hours of Le Mans, starting at 1500 hours on 15th June, concluding at 1500 hours on 16th June.