2012 24 Hours of Le Mans – The Grid Is Set With Audi On Top


The grid is set for the 80th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Audi is once again on pole position with their R18 e-tron quattro.

Audi claimed spots 1-2-4-6 with Lotterer leading the way with a lap time of 3:23.787 in the #1 R18 e-tron quattro which is nearly two seconds faster than last year’s pole time set by Benoît Tréluyer in an R18 TDI. This marks the first time a hybrid car has been on pole at Le Mans.



While the Audi Hybrid took the pole, the also new #3 Audi R18 Ultra claimed the 2nd spot, putting two different types of Audi technology on the front row. Anthony Davidson put up a strong fight in the #8 Toyota TS030 Hybrid with a laptime of 3:24.842, good enough for 3rd place on the grid. The fastest petrol powered LMP1 car was the #21 Strakka Racing HPD ARX-03a Honda which managed a lap time of 3:29.622 with Danny Watts behind the wheel. The #21 car will start 7th on the grid.

The Pescarolo team suffered some difficulty during the final qualifying session after an incident in the #16 Pescarolo 03 Judd during the early Thursday qualifying session. The team worked to complete repairs and get the car out on track for the night qualifying session. The #17 Pescarolo Dome Judd was quick during the final night qualifying session until Seiji Ara had an off at the Porsche Curves. Ara walked away from the incident but the car suffered heavy frontal damage. The #17 Pescarolo will start 10th on the grid.




In the very competitive LMP2 class, John Martin and the #25 ADR Delta team claimed pole with a lap time of 3:38.181, good for 14th spot overall. The #24 Oak Racing Morgan Judd qualified 2nd in LMP2, shoehorning itself between several Oreca Nissan powered LMP2 entries. The #26 Signatech Nissan and the #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing round out the top 4 in LMP2. The non-classified Highcroft Racing DeltaWing Nissan finished just ahead of the bottom of the LMP2 with a lap time of 3:42.612, good for the 29th starting position.



Luxury Racing claimed the top spot in the manufacturer backed GTE Pro class with the #59 Ferrari 458 Italia of Frederic Makowiecki with a fast lap of 3:55.393, 0.477 seconds faster than the 2nd place #97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8. Third place in GTE Pro went to the #74 Corvette Racing team with a time of 3:55.910 set by Oliver Gavin. Makowiecki will start 34th on grid in the Luxury Racing Ferrari. The AF Corse team got the #51 Ferrari out on track during the final hour of qualifying after having completely rebuilt the car due to a crash involving Giancarlo Fisichella. Due to ACO rules, the #51 car will have to start at the rear of the grid because the chassis was changed before qualifying sessions.




The Flying Lizards sit atop the GTE Am class with the #79 911 RSR with a lap time of 3:57.594 set by Patrick Pilet. The #41 911 RSR of Prospeed Competition and #43 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 round out the top 3 in GTE Am.