Update: TDS Racing inherits pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

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14 June 2019 - 0 views

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After the three qualifying sessions for the 87th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, TDS Racong’s #28 ORECA 07 inherits the pole position in LMP2 following the cancellation of the best lap time of Graff Racing realized the day before by Tristan Gommendy (Vincent Capillaire not having stopped at weighing in the last qualifying session).

Four other ORECA 07s followed closely behind: DragonSpeed’s #31, Team Signatech Alpine Matmut’s #36 Alpine designed by ORECA Technology, IDEC SPORT Racing’s #48 and G-Drive Racing’s #26 Aurus 01 also built by ORECA.

The second qualifying session started at 19:00 and saw DragonSpeed’s #31 grab the pole by improving on the fastest time of the previous day. Thanks to Pastor Maldonado, the time to beat was reduced to 3:26.490 and DragonSpeed’s ORECA 07 came in ahead of Jackie Chan DC Racing’s #38 by a little more than three-tenths of a second. Suffering from engine failure problems, Team Signatech Alpine Matmut’s #36 Alpine A470 still managed to secure the third provisional spot. As for Rebellion, the engine of the #3 driven by Thomas Laurent broke down in the first laps. Thanks to a tour de force by mechanics, the engine was changed out and the car started off again at the beginning of the last qualifying session. The #1 sister car trailed closely, taking the fourth provisional place thanks to Neel Jani’s time of 3:17.313.

At 22:00, the last qualifying session got underway. After just a few minutes, TDS Racing’s #28 ORECA 07 snatched the provisional pole before Graff Racing’s #39 took the lead by nearly three-tenths of a second on the #28 driven by Loïc Duval, slowed in his best lap as a result of a yellow flag.

After one hour, Gustavo Menezes clocked the fourth fastest time at the wheel of the #3 Rebellion while the #1 experienced engine troubles in the LMP1 class.

A few minutes before the end of the session – on a dry track packed with competitors – Nicolas Lapierre clinched the fourth spot behind TDS Racing’s #28 and DragonSpeed’s #31, and ahead of IDEC SPORT Racing’s #48. Graff Racing had no need to return to the track to take its first pole in the WEC.