A DISAPPOINTED LE MANS POLEMAN

It’s not often that a Le Mans 24 Hours polewinner admits to disappointment after qualifying, but that was Kamui Kobayashi’s (left) state of mind after the new Hyperpole session last Friday.

The driver of the #7 Toyota TS050 HYBRID was more than half a second clear of the second-placed Rebelliongibson R-13 with Gustavo Menezes at the wheel, though the same amount, give or take, off his own qualifying mark for the 8.47-mile Circuit de la Sarthe from 2017. But Kobayashi was on to break his 3m14.791s record as the session drew to a close.

Kobayashi’s opening run on the two sets of tyres allowed yielded a 3m15.267s, but that was on his second attacking lap on those four Michelins. He’d only managed 3m15.920s on his first before going again following a cooling down/charging up lap.

So there was clearly more in the car, and the Japanese driver proved it on run two. He was nearly four tenths up in the first sector and nearly three in sector two. Kobayashi was on course for the record, only to be told that he’d been pinged for track limits at Tertre

Rouge and wouldn’t be able to keep the lap. He backed off and ducked into the pits.

“To be honest, a little bit disappointed because on my second attempt it seemed I could break my record,” he said when asked for his thoughts after qualifying. “The car seemed good, track conditions were good with the Hyperpole, and we were more confident with the traffic situation.”

Kobayashi’s pace on his second run dismissed the idea that a unique set of circumstances had come together to allow him to dip into the 3m14s in 2017. Three years ago there had been a tailwind on the Mulsanne Straight and a headwind through the Porsche Curves, and the truck was nicely rubbered in courtesy of the gridful of Michelin-tyred cars from the French Porsche Carrera Cup that had just been out on track.

But Hyperpole, a half-hour session with only the fastest six cars in each class from the previous day’s qualifying, presented the chance of traffic-free laps that generations of drivers have only dreamed about.