TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will start the 88th Le Mans 24 Hours from the front after earning a fourth consecutive pole position at the Circuit de la Sarthe as it chases a hat-trick of victories for the TS050 HYBRID in the legendary French race.
Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 car he shares with Mike Conway and José María López set a fastest lap of 3mins 15.267secs to earn his third pole position at Le Mans. The nearest challenger, Rebellion #1, was 0.555secs adrift.
Kazuki Nakajima earned third place in the #8 TS050 HYBRID he drives alongside Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley following a tight battle at the front, setting a lap time just 1.382secs away from pole on the 13.626km circuit.
Pole position was decided by the new hyperpole format for the first time this year; the top six cars from each class, as determined by Thursday’s qualifying session, fought for top spot in a 30-minute session. With fewer cars on track, traffic was less of a challenge, theoretically giving drivers a better chance to set clean flying laps.
With temperatures of 23°C on a sunny late morning, the two TS050 HYBRIDs hit the track and took on the significant task of challenging Kamui’s fastest-ever Le Mans lap of 3mins 14.791secs, set in 2017. Kamui got close and looked on course to beat it before having to abandon his final fast lap due to a track limits violation.
Nevertheless, with an average speed of 251.2km/h his lap was an impressive achievement and added to the pole positions he earned in Le Mans in 2017 and 2019. It ensures the 1,000hp, four-wheel-drive TS050 HYBRID will start its final Le Mans 24 Hours from the front, before a new hypercar-based category replaces the current LMP1 machines from next year.
A point for pole position also contributes to the World Championship battle. The #7 crew now holds a 13-point lead over the #8 drivers, while TOYOTA GAZOO Racing leads Rebellion Racing by 43 points with two races remaining and a maximum of 89 points available.
The 59-car grid will start the 88th Le Mans 24 Hours, the penultimate round of the 2019-2020 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season, at 2.30pm local time on Saturday.
Hyperpole results:
1st #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 3min 15.267secs 7 laps
2nd #1 Rebellion (Senna/Nato/Menezes) +0.555secs 3 laps
3rd #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1.382secs 9 laps
4th #3 Rebellion (Dumas/Berthon/Deletraz) +3.063secs 6 laps
5th #4 Bykolles (Dillmann/Spengler/Webb) +7.776secs 8 laps
6th #22 United Autosports (Hanson/Albuquerque/di Resta) +9.261secs 6 laps
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