Porsche holds the fastest times so far in the ongoing quest for pole for the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours race. The free practice as well as the first qualifying session were held yesterday, where Porsche managed to beat its competition by setting the fastest lap times in both sessions. Qualifying 2 and 3 will take place tonight.
Neel Jani thrived through free practice in the #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid, setting a time of 3:22.011 – the fastest of that session. Sister car, the #1 Porsche of Timo Bernhard came in second with a best time of 3:33.550 while Lucas di Grassi gave Audi the best place in third. Nelson Piquet Jr set the fastest time in the LMP1 privateer team category piloting a Rebellion Racing R-One AER.
Ferrari dominated LMGTE-Pro class with a 1-2 finish but not after a tough session battle presented by the Fords, two of which finished in third and fourth.
[Photos by Rajan Jangda]
When qualifying kicked off under the moonlight and floodlights, Neel Jani repeated his free practice stint by setting the fastest time on 3:19.733 in the #2 Porsche 919, while the #1 car completed a 1-2 for Porsche again. Stephane Sarrazin placed the #6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid in third ahead of the #5 sister car, Audi had a troubled evening, where the #8 Audi R18 stayed out for most part of the session.
Ford dominated the first qualifying session in the LMGTE Pro class, taking 1-2 and 4-5 places, it was only Gimmi Bruni in the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE who came in between them at third. The #68 Ford GT was the fastest leading the #69 sister car, while the #66 and #67 cars claimed fifth and fourth respectively.
