LM24: Porsche dominates first qualifying

Porsche dominated first qualifying for the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours, with Neel Jani leading a one-two-three for the German manufacturer on Wednesday evening.

Jani set a blistering 3m16.887s early on to take provisional pole, a lap fast enough to be the quickest pole position for the race in terms of laptime since 1989 should it not be beaten.

They were joined at the head of the field by the third #19 car, which was sent out slightly later in the hands of Nick Tandy.

Loic Duval was the best of the Audi drivers in the #8 R18 e-tron Quattro, but his lap was nearly three seconds adrift of Jani's mark.

Audi comfortably had the measure of Toyota in the battle for best of the rest, with Marco Bonanomi slotting the #9 car into fifth early in the session and Benoit Treluyer setting the best laps for the #7 car in the final 30 minutes.

But things didn't all go smoothly for Audi. Rene Rast spun the #9 car at Mulsanne corner, while Treluyer lost the #7 car at the first Mulsanne chicane long before he settled in for his run of quick laps at the end. The Frenchman hit trouble again at the first chicane at the end of the session, clouting the left-hand curb and sending himself into the gravel on the outside.

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Last year's polesitter, Toyota, was a distant spectator to the action ahead from the moment the first qualifying laps were posted. The TS040s ended the session more than six seconds off the pace of the Porsches, with a late effort from Stephane Sarrazin jumping the #2 car ahead of the #1 machine in their lonely battle for seventh place.

The Toyotas finished the session only three seconds clear of the leading Rebellion entry, with Mathias Beche setting a 3m26.8s to comfortably beat the team's fastest lap from 2014 qualifying.

Nissan completed its first qualifying session with mixed fortunes for its three cars, which were led by the #23 entry in 12th overall with Jann Mardenborough at the wheel. The Briton's lap wasn't quite good enough to outpace the leading LMP2 car, but it was way clear of its LMP1 teammates.

The #22 Nissan crept up the order to finish the session 20th overall with Harry Tincknell, while the troubled #21 entry was 30th in the hands of Lucas Ordonez after logging only nine laps.

LMP2: KCMG ON TOP

Like the front end of the field, the best times in LMP2 came early on.

Practice pacesetter Richard Bradley continued KCMG's strong start to the week, recording a 3m38.032s on his first flying lap. Jon Lancaster went within a second moments later in the Greaves Motorsport Gibson, but that was as close as anyone got to Bradley all night.

The Greaves entry remained second despite Gaetan Paletou crashing at Mulsanne Corner halfway through the session, resulting in a 25-minute red flag.

Last year's LMP2-class winner Jota Sport was third – with Mitch Evans and Oliver Turvey both setting times good enough for the place – while Sam Bird put G-Drive Racing (OAK) into fourth place with a late run.

Following Mark Patterson's practice crash, Murphy Prototypes emerged with 20 minutes remaining, and Nathanael Berthon set the 14th-fastest time.

GTE: ASTON MARTIN DOMINATES

Richie Stanaway headed an Aston Martin Racing one-two in GTE, as the British marque secured provisional pole in both categories. The New Zealander, quickest in practice, set a best lap of 3m54.928s in the #99 Vantage to edge Am-class pacesetter Pedro Lamy in the sister #98 Aston.

Last year's winning trio, Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander were third quickest thanks to Bruni's best time, with the #51 458 Italia three-tenths shy of Stanaway's benchmark.

Stefan Mucke (#97) and Marco Sorensen (#95) made it four Astons in the top five with late improvements, demoting the lead Chevrolet Corvette C7.R to sixth in GTE Pro.

Porsche fared worst of the four manufacturers. Jorg Bergmeister and Frederic Makowiecki put the #91 and #92 Manthey-run 911 RSRs ninth and 12th in GTE, respectively, which left them slower than three Am-class entries.

Several cars were reported for track-limits offenses, particularly at Tertre Rouge, though only the #71 Ferrari was punished.

AF Corse driver James Calado was stripped of his early fourth-best lap time and the car dropped to last, though the Briton did rise to 10th in GTE with a late flying lap.

QUALIFYING RESULTS

Originally on Autosport.com