Toyota 1-2-3 In Le Mans test

The No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid ran fastest in the eight hours of running in the 2017 Le Mans test day, headlining a 1-2-3 in the standings for the brand.

Kamui Kobayashi set the best time for Toyota, a 3m18.132s in the afternoon session, which was over a second faster than the other two TS050s. The No. 8 finished second, with the No. 9 third, 1.1 and 3.3 seconds off the ultimate pace.

• Classification

   | Complete results

It was a promising day for the No. 9 crew of Nicolas Lapierre and rookies Yuji Kunimoto and Jose Maria Lopez, who combined for the most laps in the class with 106.

Behind, Porsche LMP1 Team's 919 Hybrids finished fourth and fifth with the No. 2 ahead of the No. 1, 3.3 and 3.9 seconds back. The No. 2 had an uncharacteristic day, after undergoing an engine change in the afternoon which cost the team valuable track time; in the end it only managed 75 laps, the fewest of the factory hybrids.

The ByKolles ENSO CLM managed sixth on the timing, with Dominik Kraihamer settting a 3m28.701s which bettered all but one of the LMP2 runners.

LMP2's big headline is in the lap-time advantage that the ORECA 07s have over the other three chassis. The top 13 positions were all taken by the French manufacturer in the 25-car class, with the No. 35 Signatech Alpine of Nelson Panciatici topping the times after a 3m28.146s tour of the circuit late in the afternoon.

Second was the No. 24 Manor ORECA after ex-F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne set a 3m28.844s in the final few minutes, just before the red flags came out for the sister Manor car spreading oil on the track – ending the day's on-track action prematurely.

Third was the No. 37 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA, with Alex Brundle setting a 3m29.104s, less than a second off the ultimate pace.

The fastest of the other chassis in the record class was the United Autosports Ligier, which could only muster a 3m31.907s to go 14th in LMP2, and ahead of just one ORECA. The best Dallara was the ELMS-regular Cetilar Villorba Corsa crew, which managed 212mph on the speed trap – fastest of the 60 cars – but finished with a best time of 3m32.567, was 15th.

The sole Riley Mk.30 in the field from American team Keating Motorsports had a troubled morning after a fuel leak prevented the team from completing more than nine laps. Jeroen Bleekemolen, Ricky Taylor and Ben Keating all turned laps, 38 in the end, the best being a 3m38.671, 23rd in class.

In GTE Pro, Corvette Racing set the pace as Oliver Gavin toured the Circuit de la Sarthe in 3m54.701s at the very end of the session, after the team performed a 91-minute engine change during the session.

Behind were the two Porsche GT Team 911 RSRs, the No. 91 leading the No. 92. The best time from the two German GTEs was from Frederic Makowiecki with a 3m54.996s.

The best of the Aston Martins came home fifth behind the No. 63 Corvette. Dane Nicki Thiim was responsible for the No. 95 Vantage's best time, a 3m55.251s. The No. 97 finished sixth.

The Ferraris and Fords took the remaining spots in the class, the Fords in particular struggling down in 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th. The best time from the four GTs was a 3m57.536s. The line from the Chip Ganassi team at this stage is that the turbo boost restrictions from the BoP change for Le Mans are leading to a heavy impact in ultimate performance and in power delivery across the range. Whether the Fords have more in store though, remains to be seen.

Aston Martin factory driver Pedro Lamy topped GTE Am, lapping the circuit in 3m58.250s in the No. 98 Vantage GTE. It was a late flyer on the improving track, after Fernando Rees in the Larbre Corvette set a time just a tenth off Lamy's best to go top during the second session. Third was the No. 77 Proton Porsche.

In the session, outside of the aforementioned issues for various teams, the only other red flag period was due to Erik Maris getting stuck in the gravel at the Dunlop Curves in the no.33 Eurasia Ligier. The No. 17 IDEC Sport Ligier of Paul Loup Chatin and Racing Team Nederland Dallara of Jan Lammers also had aa notable incident, coming coming together at the second Mulsanne Chicane. Both cars were able to continue running though.

Aside from that, there were no major incidents or dramas. All teams present managed to set times.