In the battle of the heavyweights Audi has landed the first punch by claiming a front row lockout after qualifying at the Le Mans 24 hour race. For a team with such a great winning record of late, it’s difficult to believe this is the first pole for Audi Sport Team Joest since 2006.
It was the #2 Audi R18 of Benoît Tréluyer, Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer (3m 25.738s) that qualified ahead of the #1 Audi driven by Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller (3m 25.799s). A desperately close margin of just 0.061 seconds.
Frenchman Tréluyer set the pole-winning time and he was rapt with the result, “I was born so close to here and the 24 Hours is such a challenge and I was not even thinking about the pole position and then I did and it is just fantastic. I’m so happy about the car, about the job by the mechanics, engineers and it’s just such a nice present to them for all the work they have done up to now.”
Close behind in third place on the grid is the #9 Peugeot 908 of Pedro Lamy, Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud (3m 26.010s).
Official reports from both leading outfits can be read after the break. The race starts at 11pm tomorrow evening Australian eastern time and television coverage is available from One and live audio can be accessed online from Radio Le Mans. And don’t forget to download your free Spotter Guide so you can see who’s who.
With Audi ultra on pole at Le Mans
- First pole position for Audi at Le Mans since 2006
- Front row is firmly in Audi’s hands
- Audi R18 TDI also impresses with consistency
Ingolstadt/Le Mans, June 2011 – The front row of the grid at the 79th edition of the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans belongs to Audi. In one of the most thrilling qualifying events in recent years the new Audi R18 TDI and the company’s ultra-lightweight technology prevailed. Benoît Tréluyer set a time of 3m 25.738s and clinched the top grid position for Audi. His French team-mate Romain Dumas was merely 0.061 seconds slower.
For Audi, this marks the sixth pole position at Le Mans in total and the first since 2006 when the brand with the four rings achieved the first victory of a diesel-powered vehicle at the world’s most famous endurance race. Although Audi Sport Team Joest concentrated on preparing for the race again on Thursday night, the three Audi R18 TDI cars set the pace in the two final qualifying sessions.
Benoît Tréluyer’s performance was particularly impressive. The Frenchman clinched the pole position 30 minutes before midnight on the 21st lap of a race simulation on used tires – also thanks to the full LED headlights of the R18 TDI which ensure optimal illumination of the track at night. The competition despite making several attempts to do so tried in vain to beat Tréluyer’s fastest time in the final phase of the captivating qualifying in which the fastest six cars were running within just six tenths of a second.
This was the first pole position at Le Mans for Tréluyer, who together with Marcel Fässler and André Lotterer, will start from the grid in the number “2†Audi R18 TDI.
In the Audi R18 TDI trimmed for uncompromising lightweight design Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller clinched the front row as well. The car designated as number “1†had been slightly damaged in the first qualifying session on Wednesday night.
The crew of car number “3†on the other hand is in for a lot of work. While trying to push forward onto the two front rows of the grid from fifth place Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen slid against the track barrier in the “Tertre Rouge†section. Despite extensive damage the R18 TDI driven by Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish can be repaired before the race. The single-component carbon fiber monocoque remained intact in the impact.
The 79th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be started on Saturday at 3 p.m. by FIA President Jean Todt. Audi has the chance to secure its tenth Le Mans victory. In view of the extremely narrow time gaps between the front runners it will be more important than ever to deliver a zero-mistake performance in the race.
Quotes after qualifying
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “The front of the field is incredibly close together at these 24 Hours of Le Mans. That doesn’t surprise me though but makes me all the happier that we’ve managed putting two of our Audi R18 TDI cars on the front row. That’s the nicest way to say thank you to the squad for their work and commitment during the past few months and also this week. Of course we know that the pole position at Le Mans means nothing yet. But our cars have been very quick on the long-runs as well. I believe that we’ve got a very good base for the race.â€
Marcel Fässler (Audi R18 TDI #2): “Clinching the pole position at Le Mans is a fantastic experience. Media interest is huge. The pole also demonstrates the outstanding performance capability of the Audi R18 TDI. Obviously, we’ve been doing a good job during the winter. We three drivers did our job too: All three of us were running fast and reliable. That’s a great start into the weekend – and of course a good starting base for the race.â€
André Lotterer (Audi R18 TDI #2): “Qualifying was really good fun. You could say that it was a combination of pleasure and purpose. In the night sessions we mainly tested the tires to find out how they would perform on the long runs. At the same time the car was very quick. My team-mate Benoît Tréluyer delivered a really good lap and clinched pole in the process. I was able to have some fun at the end of the third qualifying session too. The pole position is great but no reason to become euphoric. Our main focus was not on clinching it but on completing our test program in a concentrated manner. We managed to do this. The 24 Hours of Le Mans are long, so the pole is just a very small thing.â€
Benoît Tréluyer (Audi R18 TDI #2): “I am very happy. I just really realize now that it is just fantastic for me. I was born so close to here and the 24 Hours is such a challenge and I was not even thinking about the pole position and then I did and it is just fantastic. I’m so happy about the car, about the job by the mechanics, engineers and it’s just such a nice present to them for all the work they have done up to now. We will just try and make it to the end now. The best spot on the grid is not that important it’s always better to get it of course but honestly what I would like to do is to be on the top of the podium at the end of the race. That is the most important thing.”
Timo Bernhard (Audi R18 TDI #1): “Qualifying was mainly focused on set-up work and preparing for the race. We did a good job of completing our program and checked off our list item by item. That in itself makes us feel very satisfied. Being on the front row at Le Mans is fantastic. That not just one but two Audi cars are on it is positive for the whole squad. As far as our car is concerned, we never had a really free lap and were too often stuck in traffic to go on a serious chase for times. But that wasn’t our main goal. Instead we prepared our car well for the race and all three of us have been able to gather a lot of driving time and confidence. All in all it’s been a successful qualifying event.â€
Romain Dumas (Audi R18 TDI #1): “That was a great qualifying. We improved the car a lot, which is a very important point for a 24 hour race. The car was quick but unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a perfect lap. The first row for Audi – that is very nice and shows clearly that we are competitive. We were fast with new tires and old tires and that is a good sign for the race. Nevertheless there are still a few things to improve and that’s what we will work on from now on.”
Mike Rockenfeller (Audi R18 TDI #1): “I think we really tried a lot of things and constantly improved the car. In the end we can be satisfied. On Wednesday we were a bit unfortunate when Romain (Dumas) had an accident in which he was not at at fault. A car was standing across the track in front of him. That caused us to lose a bit of time. Nevertheless, we reeled off a great program on the whole. We’re well prepared for the race at Le Mans. Now we’ve got to see what happens. Being on position two is okay. That means you don’t start in all the commotion. It’s a good starting base.â€
Dindo Capello (Audi R18 TDI #3): “It’s great that Audi is back on the pole position at Le Mans – it is a good feeling – and congratulations go to Ben. He did a great job to set his lap time. It came during the end of a long run, not even trying to qualify which makes it very impressive. Tom was trying very hard on his last lap and something happened but this kind of incident can happen. Fortunately tomorrow is a free day and we have time to fix everything and be ready for the race. We will be strong in the race”
Tom Kristensen (Audi R18 TDI #3): “Congratulations to the teams of the two sister cars and to Audi on clinching the front row. Our car, too, was fantastic in both qualifying sessions today and had the potential to be far at the front. At the beginning of the night session I had a lot of traffic and therefore tried another fast lap – but unfortunately all three sectors never fit together perfectly. I’m sorry that the guys have a lot of work to do on my car now after my accident and I can already promise now that Allan (McNish), Dindo (Capello) and I will give everything in the race to give them a nice reward for their great work.â€
Allan McNish (Audi R18 TDI #3): “From a development for the race point of view, the car was improved a lot and I now feel very confident with the R18 TDI. We were able to push in every situation. Obviously it’s unfortunate and going to be hard work for the guys to repair after the incident at the end but these things happen. It’s part of motor racing. It’s part of pushing. But what really bodes well is that there are six cars covered by around half a second at the front of the grid. That means that we have got a fantastic race ahead.”
Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Team Joest): “It goes without saying that clinching the pole position at Le Mans is a great thing. But actually I’m even more pleased with the fact that we continually developed the cars further throughout the weekend. All three Audi R18 TDI are good race cars. That’s been shown by the long runs. That’s the most important part about it and the thing we wanted to achieve. And then, if on top if that, the qualifying session results in achieving fast times and securing the front row without really having made a major effort to do so but just grabbing the opportunity and using a little less diesel fuel in the tank and running on new tires then that’s obviously a great thing. If you consider that Benoît Tréluyer’s pole position was clinched at the end of stint then that’s further proof of how well we’ve set up the cars for the race.â€
Qualifying results
- Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer (Audi R18 TDI) 3m 25.738s
- Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller (Audi R18 TDI) 3m 25.799s
- Lamy/Bourdais/Pagenaud (Peugeot) 3m 26.010s
- Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian (Peugeot) 3m 26.156s
- Capello/Kristensen/McNish (Audi R18 TDI) 3m 26.272s
- Gene/Wurz/Davidson (Peugeot) 3m 26.272s
- Lapierre/Duval/Panis (Peugeot) 3m 30.084s
- Jani/Prost/Bleekemolen (Lola-Toyota) 3m 32.883s
- Collard/Tinseau/Jousse (Pescarolo-Judd) 3m 33.066s
- Belicchi/Boullion/Smith (Lola-Toyota) 3m 34.573s
Peugeot Le Mans Challenge: Qualifying Sessions
DAY ONE
The six hours of track time scheduled for Wednesday provided confirmation that this, the 79th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be very hotly disputed.
In line with the scheduled programme, Team Peugeot Total concentrated on working on the set-up of the three Peugeot 908 during free practice. In the first qualifying session, Stéphane Sarrazin demonstrated part of the team’s potential by placing the no.8 in provisional pole position, almost a second ahead of his nearest rival.
Free practice: Peugeot completes its programme
The three Peugeot 908s immediately headed out on track once the session got underway, each with a specific programme to complete. Work was focussed on one main area, the tyres. Building on the solid base defined during the test day in April of this year, the three Peugeot 908s adopted a good pace, despite the dirty track.
With a time of 3’28’’536, recorded by Sébastien Bourdais, the Peugeot 908 no.9 ended free practice in third place in the standings, ahead of the no.7 car (Anthony Davidson). The no.8 car (Nicolas Minassian) was sixth, just in front of Team Oreca’s Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. With six cars separated by 1.1 seconds, free practice set the tone for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, which looks set to be very close.
Qualifying 1: 908 no.8 on provisional pole
Whilst pursuing its technical programme with all three cars, Team Peugeot Total decided to try and set a fast time in the second part of the session with the no.8.
With around half an hour of the session remaining, Stéphane Sarrazin grabbed provisional pole position with a lap of 3’27’’033. Nobody could get close the time of the French driver this evening. The three-time Polesitter at Le Mans is now in with a great chance of claiming a fifth consecutive pole position for Peugeot. With two two-hour sessions scheduled for tomorrow evening, however, the final positions are far from decided. At the end of this session, the Peugeot no.7 held fifth place and the no.8 finished in sixth.
Stéphane Sarrazin: “The team have faith in me and keep giving me the chance to fight it out for pole position. It is only provisional, of course, but I’m still pleased. It has been a good first day’s work. Nicolas Minassian did some long runs, whilst Franck Montagny fine-tuned the set-up. We have a very sound base for the race.â€
Marc Gené: “I couldn’t get a clear run; I was interrupted on my flying lap by an accident. We have another two sessions tomorrow to improve our position on the track. I just hope that the weather doesn’t play up.â€
Simon Pagenaud: “Overall, it’s a good performance. We aren’t overly focussed on qualifying. We have a sound and consistent car for the race, and that’s the main thing. Driving at night is always important, so it’s good to be able to get used to driving at high speeds with limited lighting.â€
Results:
PEUGEOT 908 n°8 (Sarrazin) : 3’27’’033
Audi R18 TDI n°2: 3’27’’939
Audi R18 TDI n°1 : 3’27’’949
Audi R18 TDI n°3 : 3’28’’301
PEUGEOT 908 n°7 (Wurz) : 3’28’’796
PEUGEOT 908 n°9 (Bourdais) : 3’29’’466
PEUGEOT 908 HDi FAP Oreca n°10 : 3’30’’084
Pescarolo Judd n°16 : 3’35’’456
Lola Toyota n°12 : 3’37’’404
Lola Toyota n°13 : 3’38’’351
DAY TWO
With just five tenths separating the top six cars, the qualifying sessions have already ensured this 79th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will take its place in the annals. The battle for pole position was exciting and closely contested in all three sessions, leaving the outcome of this weekend’s race hard to predict.
On June 11th, the Peugeot 908 no.9 will line up in third position on the starting grid, just in front of the no.8 car, whilst the no.7 car will start from sixth position.
The second day of qualifying began in similar fashion to the first day. The Peugeot drivers calmly completed their race preparations by comparing the various mechanical and aerodynamic configurations. Stéphane Sarrazin and Marc Gené then picked up the pace, whilst the driver team of car no.9 (Bourdais, Lamy and Pagenaud) remained focussed on its development programme.
The no.8 (Sarrazin) and no.7 (Gené) cars took it in turns to hold provisional pole position at the end of the second qualifying session. The much sought-after pole was snatched at the death by Marcel Fassler.
The timesheets changed again in the final qualifying session until Simon Pagenaud, credited with fastest time of the Peugeots with 3’26’’010, was stopped in his tracks by a puncture on his final attempt to grab pole. Franck Montagny, Nicolas Minassian and Stéphane Sarrazin’s no.8 car will start from fourth and the no.7 car (Davidson, Gené and Wurz) will line up in sixth place. The leading private car, Oreca Matmut team’s Peugeot 908 HDi FAP will line up in 7th position on the starting grid.
With just five tenths separating the top six cars, the 250,000 spectators expected at Le Mans and the hundreds of millions of TV viewers and web users who will be following the event should prepare for 24 hours of breathtakingly exciting and action-packed racing.
Olivier Quesnel, Peugeot Sport Director: “The number 7 and 8 cars both spent time at the top of the timesheets and the number 9 car came close to grabbing pole at the end of the session. So, all three of our cars has their chances during these incredibly closely contested qualifying sessions. Our drivers did a great job and are happy with the set-up of their cars. It’s quite staggering that after six hours of qualifying, there are six cars separated by just five tenths on a track that is over 13 kilometres! With fifty six cars on the track, it’s the traffic that has the biggest say in who claims pole position. We put on a fantastic show, whilst also completing our working programme, in terms of tyres and set-up. We had no problems at all. Everyone watching has been focussed on the performances of the cars during these exciting qualifying sessions but now we now have 24 Hours of racing to take part in! Le Mans is above all about reliability, good pit stops, and a question of fuel consumption and strategy. The race is going to be extremely testing.â€