BMW tops Le Mans quali opener
BMW has drawn first blood at the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours by topping the opening qualifying session on Wednesday night.
After a 60 minute Wednesday evening session where the aim is to get into the top eight to fight for pole on Thursday, Dries Vanthoor ensured BMW would create a surprise.
Vanthoor’s 3:24.465 in the #15 BMW also featuring Raffaele Marciello and Marco Wittmann was 0.177s clear of the Sebastien Bourdais/Renger van der Zande/Scott Dixon Cadillac.
Just two tenths away was the Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen Ferrari, while Alpine endured there were four manufacturers in the top four thanks to Paul-Loup Chatin/Ferdinand Habsburg/Charles Milesi.
Completing the top eight were the #2 Cadillac, #51 Ferrari, #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport and the #12 Team Jota Porsche.
The Mick Schumacher Alpine missed the cut by a tenth, while Matt Campbell’s Porsche emerged 10th with a 3:25.307, 0.842s away.
This means the Australian will be chasing a maiden Le Mans 24 Hours win from 10th on the grid.
His teammate that made Q2 in Kevin Estre survived a big off in the final 10 minutes.
The session was cut short early with just under three minutes left due to a surprise mistake from Toyota star Kamui Kobayashi.
Kobayashi went off in the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID at Karting Corner and was beached in the gravel, bringing out the reds and ending the session.
It was very costly with his best time being deleted and the former F1 driver and teammates Jose Maria Lopez and Nyck de Vries will start from the back of the Hypercar field.
In LMP2 Lorenzo Fluxa/Malthe Jakobsen/Ritomo Miyata led the way with a 3:32.827, which was three tenths clear of PJ Hyett/Louis Delétraz/Alex Quinn.
LMGT3 was close with Ryan Hardwick/Zacharie Robichon/Benjamin Barker beating Brendan Iribe/Ollie Millroy/Frederik Schandorff by 0.143s.
Yasser Shahin’s Manthey EMA Porsche was 54th overall and 16th in LMGT3.
Despite the disappointment of qualifying, the Toyota of Sebastian Buemi/Brendan Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa have topped both practice sessions.
Practice 3 is next at 23.00 AEST tonight, while the fight for pole takes place at 04.00 AEST tomorrow morning.
The race begins at midnight on Sunday, June 16.
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