First-timer at 24 Hours of Le Mans: Qualifying wrap

CAR’s editor Steve Smith is at Le Mans this year. It’s his first time and here’s his take on proceedings so far.

It’s all in the ears

Within a few minutes, you can close your eyes and tell which car is which as they thunder past the main grandstand. Mostly. The LMP2s all run a 4,2 Gibson V8 so they sound the same, but the others send their individual sound signatures rumbling through your chest cavity as they blur past.

Sitting high up on the grandstand above the pit straight, you can hear the approach through the Ford Chicane. The high scream of the flat-six Porsche 911 RSRs, the deep thrum of the Aston Martin V8, the strangely muted Ferrari 488 GTEs, the deep drone of the Ford GTs and, playing above that, the higher pitch of the V4 and V6 turbo hybrids of the LMP1 Porsche 919 and Toyota TS050 hybrids.

But none compare to the Corvette.

There are three C7.Rs in the field: two in the GTE Pro class and one in GTE Am. And when one of them comes around, it may as well be the only car on the circuit. The 5,5-litre naturally aspirated has a deep, deep basso profondo that rolls down the track ahead like a shop’s bow wave, washing over you and standing the hair on your arms on end. These are primal sonics that, eons ago, would have had us all scurrying back to our caves.

Being qualifying, the competitors are coming passed with sufficient asphalt between them to distinguish their aural personalities, but I suspect tomorrow will be a very different affair. Squadrons of endurance racecars will produce a maelstrom of noise that will no doubt necessitate the ear plugs that my hosts Porsche have included in the duffel bag of essential Le Mans kit handed to me when I arrived. Sunscreen, a cap and grandstand cushion were also included.

The grid

Here are the top fives:

LMP1

1. Conway/Kobayashi/Sarrazin, Toyota Gazoo TS050 Hybrid 3m 14.791s
2. Davidson/Buemi/Nakajim, Toyota Gazoo TS050 Hybrid 3m 17.128s
3. Jani/Tandy/Lotterer  Porsche 919 Hybrid 3m 17.259s
4. Bernhard/Bamber/Hartley, Porsche 919 Hybrid 3m 18.067s
5. Lopez/Kunimoto/Lapierre, Toyota Gazoo TS040 Hybrid 3m 18.625s

LMP2

1. Rusinov/Thiriet/Lynn RUS G-Drive Racing Oreca 07 3m 25.352s
2. Gonzalez/Trummer/Petrov CHN CEFC Manor TRS Oreca 07 3m 25.549s \
3. Jarvis/Laurent/Tung CHN Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07 3m 25.911s
4. Prost/Senna/Canal SUI Vaillante Rebellion Oreca 07 3m 26.736s11
5. Piquet/Beche/Heinemeier-Hansson SUI Vaillante Rebellion Oreca 07 3m 26.811s

GTE Pro

1. Turner/Adam/Serra GBR Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE 3m 50.837s
2. Calado/Pier Guidi/Rugolo ITA AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE 3m 51.028s
3. Thiim/Sorensen/Stanaway GBR Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE 3m 3. 51.038s
4. Rigon/Bird/Molina ITA AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT 3m 51.086s
5. Briscoe/Westbrook/Dixon USA Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ford GT 3m 51.232s

GTE Am

1. Rees/Brandela/Philippon FRA Larbre Chevrolet Corvette C7.R 3m 52.843s
2. Dalla Lana/Lamy/Lauda GBR Aston Martin Racing Vantage GTE 3m 53.233s
3. Mac Neil/Sweedler/Bell USA Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GTE 3m 53.312s
4. Ried/Dienst/Cairoli GER Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR 3m 53.381s
5. Cameron/Scott/Cioci CHE Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE 3m 53.641s GTE Am

The big qualifying story, of course, was ex-F1 driver Kamui Kobayashi’s lap time of 3m14,791s in the #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid. With an average speed of 251.882km/h, Kobayashi’s lap is the fastest ever at the Circuit de la Sarthe and was set in near perfect conditions.

Tailwinds on the main straight and headwinds through the Porsche Curves also allowed Vitaly Petrov to set a new LMP2 lap record in the #25 CEFC Manor TRS Racing ORECA. The Russian registered a 3m25,549s shortly after Kobayashi’s screamer.

Bring on 4pm tomorrow when the lights go green…