LE MANS, France — A 60-minute qualifying session at La Sarthe on Wednesday set the field of cars that will compete in Thursday’s Hyperpole session to set the final grid for the 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Kamui Kobayashi, aboard the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, was the fastest of the five Hypercars competing this year, turning a lap of 3:27.247. He’ll share his Gazoo Racing-fielded Toyota with Mike Conway and José Maria López.
The two Glickenhaus 007 LMHs followed on the speed charts, with the lone Alpine A480-Gibson and the second Toyota completing the top five.
The No. 708 Glickenhaus entry was second with drivers Olivier Pla, Romain Dumas and Pipo Derani sharing the controls.
The top six runners in the other three classes were locked into Thursday’s Hyperpole field.
In the LMP2 class, it was Robin Frijins navigating last season’s Le Mans-winning machine in the Team WRT No. 21 Oreca 07 to the top spot in the category, with a lap time of 3:29.898. Frijins’ co-drivers are Sean Gelael and René Rast.
Antonio Felix da Costa was second on the charts in the No. 38 JOTA Oreca, with Norman Nato third for Realteam by WRT. The United Autosport entries and the Prema Orlen Oreca rounded out the top six.
The Team Penske No. 32 was among the entries that did not qualify for Hyperpole.
Six of the seven entries advanced in the GTE field, with Laurens Vanthoor setting the pace in the No. 92 Porsche. He will share his car with Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre.
He was a tenth of a second ahead of the No. 63 Corvette handled by Antonio Garcia and shared by Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg. Frederic Makowiecki, in a another Porsche, was third.
In GT Am, In Am, Nicki This set the pace for Northwest AMR. He’ll share his No. 98 ride with Paul Dalla Lana and David Pittard.