Ferrari locks out front row on its return to the top flight at Le Mans · RaceFans

Ferrari secured a front row lock-out in hyperpole qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours, claiming their first pole in the famous race in half a century.

The number 50 Ferrari shared by Antonio Fuoco – who drove the pole-winning lap – Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen will start famous 24-hour endurance race from the front of the field, ahead of their team mates in the number 51 car. Toyota will start third on the grid with the number eight car, ahead of the number 75 Porsche Penske.

The half-hour hyperpole session, unlike other rounds of the World Endurance Championship, saw all classes on the track at the same time. After Wednesday’s qualifying session, the eight hypercars participating included both Toyotas, both Ferraris, two Cadillacs – the number two and number three – and two Porsche Penskes, the number five car and number 75.

The Toyotas were the first cars over the line to begin their first flying laps of the session on the medium compound tyres, with the number eight Toyota of Brendon Hartley ahead of the number seven car of Kamui Kobayashi with the Ferraris behind. Earl Bamber’s first push lap in the number two Porsche was deleted due to exceeding track limits at Tertre Rouge, before Hartley crossed the line to set the initial benchmark time of a 3’26.398.

That was immediately beaten by the second Toyota by just over a tenth of a second, before the two Ferraris easily beat them both, with the number 51 Ferrari driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi posting a 2’23.897 just ahead of the number 50 sister Ferrari. Both Toyotas improved on their second laps, but were still over a second slower than the Ferraris at the top of the times.

The Toyotas and Ferraris returned to the pits to make adjustments for their final runs, heading out with just under 15 minutes remaining. Pier Guidi shaved four tenths of a second off his own provisional pole time, but lost the lap after it was deleted for exceeding track limits at the exit of Karting. That allowed the sister Ferrari, driven by Fuoco, to jump up to provisional pole with an improvement of almost a full lap.

The number three Cadillac jumped to the second row courtesy of Sebastien Bourdais, but he was then forced to stop at the first chicane on the Mulsanne with a problem. After stopping, the Cadillac suddenly burst into flames, with fire coming from underneath the car. The session was immediately red-flagged, stopping the clock with 5’15 remaining.

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With enough time for drivers to start a final flying lap before the chequered flag dropped, cars queued up at the end of the pit lane for the Cadillac to be cleared. When it was, the session resumed instantly, with both Toyotas, both Porsche Penskes and the number two Cadillac joining the circuit, while the Ferrari pair sitting on the front row opted not to go back out for a final run.

Hartley was again the first over the line, followed by Kobayashi. However, while both Toyotas set personal best sectors, they were comfortably slower than the Ferraris. Hartley crossed the line to improve up to third, but only for a matter of seconds as Kobayashi took the position from him. However, that secured pole position for Ferrari with a front row lockout with the number 50 car of Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen.

The number 51 Ferrari will start alongside in second, with the number eight Toyota of Hartley, Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa third on the grid. Felipe Nasr put the number 75 Porsche Penske fourth on the grid after Kobayashi’s best time at the chequered flag was deleted for track limits. The number two Cadillac took sixth ahead of the number five Porsche Penske seventh and Bourdais eighth in the Cadillac after his car’s best time was deleted for causing the red flag.

Paul Loup Chatin secured LMP2 pole for IDEC sport, while Corvette will start the GT class from pole position after Ben Keating secured pole by well over a second.

Le Mans 24 Hours Hyperpole results

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