LE MANS: Audi Retains Pole For LM24

Le Mans / ALMS

LE MANS: Audi Retains Pole For LM24

Andre Lotterer improves time, leads Audi front row for 80th Le Mans 24 Hours (Live! SPEED)...

John Dagys | Posted June 14, 2012 Le Mans, (FRA)

Audi will start the 80th Le Mans 24 Hours from the pole, with Toyota within reach following a close qualifying session. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

While times improved from Wednesday’s opening qualifying session, Audi still ended up on top of the time sheets, with the German manufacturer sweeping the front row for the 80th Le Mans 24 Hours (Sat, 8:30 a.m. ET, Live! SPEED).

The No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler will lead the expected 56-car field to the green. Despite a late charge from a brace of Audis and Toyotas, the German’s 3:23.787 lap time, set early in tonight’s third and final qualifying session, held for the historic first pole for a hybrid-powered prototype.

"The car was running like it was on rails, simply incredible," Lotterer said. "The guys at Audi Sport did a top job yet again and made my first pole position at Le Mans possible for me. Many thanks to them for this!"

Lotterer edged out the No. 3 Audi R18 ultra of Loic Duval by 0.291 seconds, a car that also saw improvement during the nighttime hours. Marc Gene and Romain Dumas will complete the driving squad in the Spa-winning entry.

Toyota continued to impress with its gasoline-powered hybrid, with the No. 8 machine of Anthony Davidson reeling off a 3:24.842 to come nearly within one-second of the pole-sitting Audi as the clock struck midnight.

The ex-F1 driver led the charge for the Japanese manufacturer, returning to Le Mans after a 13-year hiatus.

“After this qualifying session, I feel that we almost got everything possible from the car," Davidson said. "I did a good lap and I think we can be happy with what we achieved. I am still very new at the wheel of the TS030 HYBRID and I am going faster and faster; the car is nicely balanced and I feel comfortable with it."

Toyota’a second TS030 Hybrid of Alex Wurz, Kaz Nakajima and Nicolas Lapierre wound up fifth, sandwiching the No. 2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and eight-time race winner Tom Kristensen, which will start fourth.

Audi’s second ‘conventional’ R18 of Oliver Jarvis, Marco Bononomi and Mike Rockenfeller slotted in sixth, more than three seconds ahead of the No. 21 Strakka Racing HPD ARX-03a, the leading privateer entry in the 13-car LMP1 field.

Danny Watts shined at the wheel of the all-British entry, turning a 3:29.622 lap time in the Strakka machine. The No. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60 Toyota of Neel Jani wound up eighth overall and in class.

The same could not be said for Pescarolo Team, which saw its No. 17 Dome S102.5 Judd of Seiji Ara crash hard at the Porsche Curves in Q3 and bring out the one-and-only red flag of all three qualifying session. However, the car is expected to be repaired for Saturday's race start.

ADR-Delta grabbed the LMP2 class pole, thanks to an impressive 3:38.181 lap time by John Martin. The Australian driver, who will share the wheel of the No. 26 Oreca 03 Nissan with Tor Graves and Jan Charouz, jumped to the top of the time sheets early in the third session.

It bumped the No. 24 OAK Racing Morgan Judd of Olivier Pla, who turned a 3:38.598 lap time on Thursday afternoon but still held for second quickest.

"The most important is to stay focused on the race," pole-sitter Martin said. "It’s encouraging for my first time at Le Mans, but we must keep on. Jan is a valuable teammate who knows this track and event well. He isn’t hesitating to share his experience with us, and for us that’s a real plus."

The No. 26 Signatech Nissan Oreca 03 Nissan of Nelson Panciatici will line up third in class, despite the car having suffered an off in the night-time session.

American squads Starworks Motorsport and Level 5 Motorsports qualified 9th and 14th, respectively in their HPD ARX-03b entries, with both teams focusing on race setups during the latter stages of tonight's two-hour night session.

PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view LE MANS: Practice & Qualifying 2012

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