Toyota qualifies first, second
LE MANS, France: Toyota swept to a onetwo in qualifying for the 24 Hours of Le Mans yesterday with Fernando Alonso’s No 8 car on pole position for the Spaniard’s debut.
Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima set the fastest lap, a 3min 15.377sec effort that was close to the record of 3min 14.791sec set last year by compatriot Kamui Kobayashi, who is in the No 7 car.
Nakajima, who shares the hybrid with Alonso and Switzerland’s Sebastien Buemi, had already set the provisional pole on Thursday but improved on that time to beat the sister car by almost 2sec.
‘‘The lap was great, the car setup was almost perfect for me and I had no traffic, which was very lucky,’’ Nakajima, who was pushing hard for the record, said.
‘‘Let’s hope everything goes well in the race.’’
Double Formula One world champion Alonso is competing for Toyota in the full World Endurance Series this season as well as carrying out his grand prix duties with McLaren and is the centre of attention at Le Mans.
The Spaniard packed in plenty of night driving experience towards the end of the session as light rain fell and the track emptied of traffic.
The 86th running of the race at the Sarthe circuit starts tomorrow morning.
Toyota is clear favourite for victory as the only major manufacturer entered in the top LMP1 category after champion Porsche quit but can take nothing for granted after los ing in 2017 due to unreliability.
This year’s race will be its their 20th attempt to become only the second Japanese marque after Mazda triumphed in the endurance classic.
The big question is, assuming it runs untroubled throughout, which of the two factory crews will end up as winner.
For Alonso, the aim is to tick off the second part of the triple crown of motorsport, leaving only the Indianapolis 500 to conquer. He has also won the Monaco Grand Prix twice.
Only one man has completed the triple crown — the late British world champion Graham Hill.
Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula One world champion, will start seventh for the Russianbacked SMP Racing team’s No 11 car.
Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, already a Monaco Grand Prix winner and Indianapolis 500 champion, will start 24th in the United Autosports entry that is competing in the lower LMP2 category. — Reuters