The No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid Hypercar is in pole position following a dramatic Hyperpole session at the third round of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Brendon Hartley qualified with a 3m24.408s lap in a thrilling finale to clinch the Hyperpole.
Toyota is 1-2 after the final shootout and sees the New Zealander beat teammate Kamui Kobayashi in No.7 Toyota by just 0.177s.
Known by the fans as the “Les Bleues” squad, the Alpine ELF Team is third following a 3m24.850s lap by Nicolas Lapierre. However the Frenchman lost his fastest lap for exceeding track limits.
Glickenhaus is fourth and fifth as all the Hypercars are covered by just 1.9s. Four of the five Hypercars fastest times were set during the 30-minute session.
In LMP2 the No.31 Le Mans LMP2 title defending car driven by Robin Frijns held off his challengers after a scintillating 3m28.394s lap.
The No.41 Realteam by WRT car driven by Norman Nato was second and the No.22 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson is third with Filipe Albuquerque at the wheel.
Fourth is the No.38 JOTA entry ahead of the Prema Orlen Team of Louis Deletraz and No.23 United Autosports car of Alex Lynn.
In the LMGTE Pro category the Corvettes were dominant. The No.64 Corvette led the way as Nick Tandy’s early session topping lap of 3m49.895s beat the sister Corvette driven by Antonio Garcia by a mere 0.192s.
Porsche GT Team start from the second row of the grid with the No.91 ahead of the No.92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 with Frederic Makowiecki and Laurens Vanthoor setting the times.
AF Corse Ferrari are fifth and sixth with No.52 of Antonio Fuoco just beating the No.51 Spa winning car driven by James Calado.
In the LMGTE Am class, is a Prancing Horse front-row lock-out, with the No.61 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Vincent Abril ahead of the Kessel Racing car of Mikkel Jensen.
Harry Tincknell secured third for Dempsey Proton Porsche ahead of Nicki Thiim in the No.98 Northwest AMR Vantage.
No.54 AF Corse were fifth with Nick Cassidy at wheel, with Iron Dames in the No.85 clinching sixth thanks to Rahel Frey.
Iron Lynx Team Principal, Andrea Piccini, said: “It was a great day for the Iron Dames. Making it into Hyperpole is such a proud moment for everyone in the team, and it shows that we’re competitive and that the work from the past few years is now paying off.
“Sarah, Michelle and Rahel have created a very strong chemistry this season, and they’re achieving good performances.
“It is a shame as it was looking like we were going to get P4, but due to track limits we finished in P6. We’ve raced hard and fairly, and we’re well prepared to have a good race. We believe there’s a great potential for a special result, so now, we all prepare for the big race on Saturday now!”
On Friday evening all the drivers joined the fans at the driver parade for the traditional party before race day. By Melissa Warren
The grid for the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1 8 3:24.408 3:40.842 3:24.408 Toyota Gazoo Racing HYPERCAR
2 7 3:24.828 0.42 0.42 3:27.247 3:24.828 Toyota Gazoo Racing HYPERCAR
3 36 3:24.850 0.442 0.022 3:29.656 3:24.850 Alpine ELF Team HYPERCAR
4 709 3:25.841 1.433 0.991 3:27.978 3:25.841 Glickenhaus Racing HYPERCAR
5 708 3:26.359 1.951 0.518 3:27.355 3:26.359 Glickenhaus Racing HYPERCAR
6 31 3:28.394 3.986 2.035 3:29.898 3:28.394 WRT LMP2
7 22 3:30.070 5.662 1.676 3:30.639 3:30.070 United Autosports USA LMP2
8 38 3:30.373 5.965 0.303 3:30.124 3:30.373 JOTA LMP2
9 41 3:30.522 6.114 0.149 3:30.440 3:30.522 Realteam by WRT LMP2
10 9 3:31.115 6.707 0.593 3:30.651 3:31.115 Prema Orlen Team LMP2
11 23 3:31.596 7.188 0.481 3:30.568 3:31.596 United Autosports USA LMP2
12 1 3:31.368 6.96 0.228 3:31.368 Richard Mille Racing LMP2
13 65 3:31.382 6.974 0.014 3:31.382 Panis Racing LMP2
14 5 3:31.462 7.054 0.08 3:31.462 Team Penske LMP2
15 32 3:31.808 7.4 0.346 3:31.808 Team WRT LMP2
16 30 3:32.000 7.592 0.192 3:32.000 Duqueine Team LMP2
17 37 3:32.008 7.6 0.008 3:32.008 COOL Racing LMP2
18 28 3:32.138 7.73 0.13 3:32.138 JOTA LMP2
19 48 3:32.285 7.877 0.147 3:32.285 IDEC Sport LMP2
20 34 3:32.549 8.141 0.264 3:32.549 Inter Europol Competition LMP2
21 24 3:32.956 8.548 0.407 3:32.956 Nielsen Racing LMP2
22 35 3:33.463 9.055 0.507 3:33.463 Ultimate LMP2
23 44 3:33.480 9.072 0.017 3:33.480 ARC Bratislava LMP2
24 39 3:33.483 9.075 0.003 3:33.483 Graff Racing LMP2
25 3 3:34.524 10.116 1.041 3:34.524 DKR Engineering LMP2
26 47 3:36.371 11.963 1.847 3:36.371 Algarve Pro Racing LMP2
27 83 3:36.548 12.14 0.177 3:36.548 AF Corse LMP2
28 27 3:38.136 13.728 1.588 3:38.136 CD Sport LMP2
29 43 3:38.491 14.083 0.355 3:38.491 Inter Europol Competition LMP2
30 10 Vector Sport LMP2
31 13 TDS Racing x Vaillante LMP2
32 45 Algarve Pro Racing LMP2
33 64 3:49.985 25.577 11.494 3:51.491 3:49.985 Corvette Racing LMGTE Pro
34 63 3:50.177 25.769 0.192 3:51.132 3:50.177 Corvette Racing LMGTE Pro
35 91 3:50.377 25.969 0.2 3:51.382 3:50.377 Porsche GT Team LMGTE Pro
36 92 3:50.522 26.114 0.145 3:50.999 3:50.522 Porsche GT Team LMGTE Pro
37 52 3:51.779 27.371 1.257 3:51.614 3:51.779 AF Corse LMGTE Pro
38 51 3:51.816 27.408 0.037 3:51.502 3:51.816 AF Corse LMGTE Pro
39 74 4:03.311 38.903 11.495 4:03.311 Riley Motorsports LMGTE Pro
40 61 3:52.594 28.186 10.717 3:54.316 3:52.594 AF Corse LMGTE Am
41 57 3:52.751 28.343 0.157 3:53.489 3:52.751 Kessel Racing LMGTE Am
42 77 3:53.006 28.598 0.255 3:54.224 3:53.006 Dempsey – Proton Racing LMGTE Am
43 98 3:53.578 29.17 0.572 3:52.559 3:53.578 Northwest AMR LMGTE Am
44 54 3:53.757 29.349 0.179 3:53.690 3:53.757 AF Corse LMGTE Am
45 85 3:53.869 29.461 0.112 3:54.081 3:53.869 Iron Dames LMGTE Am
46 86 3:54.323 29.915 0.454 3:54.323 GR Racing LMGTE Am
47 56 3:54.510 30.102 0.187 3:54.510 Team Project 1 LMGTE Am
48 46 3:54.533 30.125 0.023 3:54.533 Team Project 1 LMGTE Am
49 79 3:54.912 30.504 0.379 3:54.912 WeatherTech Racing LMGTE Am
50 99 3:55.076 30.668 0.164 3:55.076 Hardpoint Motorsport LMGTE Am
51 59 3:55.162 30.754 0.086 3:55.162 Inception Racing LMGTE Am
52 21 3:55.308 30.9 0.146 3:55.308 AF Corse LMGTE Am
53 55 3:55.617 31.209 0.309 3:55.617 Spirit of Race LMGTE Am
54 75 3:55.672 31.264 0.055 3:55.672 Iron Lynx LMGTE Am
55 66 3:56.008 31.6 0.336 3:56.008 JMW Motorsport LMGTE Am
56 777 3:56.437 32.029 0.429 3:56.437 D’Station Racing LMGTE Am
57 88 3:56.516 32.108 0.079 3:56.516 Dempsey – Proton Racing LMGTE Am
58 33 3:57.044 32.636 0.528 3:57.044 TF Sport LMGTE Am
59 60 4:05.633 41.225 8.589 4:05.633 Iron Lynx LMGTE Am
60 93 4:07.907 43.499 2.274 4:07.907 Proton Competition LMGTE Am
61 80 4:23.223 58.815 15.316 4:23.223 Iron Lynx LMGTE Am
62 71 Spirit of Race LMGTE Am
