2018 24 Hours of Le Mans - Toyota In Control During Practice

[Paul Jeffrey]

Toyota secured a much expected 1 - 2 in practice at Le Mans today, however the biggest surprise was the relatively small gap between the Japanese cars and their privateer rivals...

The first practice session for the Le Mans 24 Hours is over and no surprises, Toyota lead the way at the head of the LMP1 Prototype field with the #7 car rounding out atop the times, just over half a second ahead of the sister machine but surprisingly, and rather pleasingly for those hoping to watch a close race, the Rebellion R13 would be just a further two tenths adrift in third overall, a mere .708 away from the fastest car in what was a superb performance by the Rebellion "B" team.

Further down the order would be BR Engineering in fourth, 1.6 away from the #7 and just a further nine tenths up on the sister car, giving plenty of cause for optimism that LMP1 race victory might not be a sure thing for Toyota in a few days time...

Sadly the test session wouldn't be all that successful for former Formula One team Manor, the British squad having another disastrous session in the new Ginetta G60, failing to score any significant track time after both a track stoppage early on for the #5, and a mere seven laps of running taking place for the #6.

In the GT ranks, today would be a dominant session for Porsche, the German outfit scoring a powerful 1 - 2 - 3 ahead of a Ford, Ferrari, Porsche, Ferrari, Ford sandwich, surprising many with the outright pace of a car that didn't seem quite as quick as this leading up to the big event.

Provisional Practice Results

1. 7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid LM P1 54 3'18.718
2. 8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid LM P1 55 3'19.275 0.557
3. 3 Rebellion R13 LM P1 39 3'19.426 0.708
4. 10 BR Engineering BR1 LM P1 44 3'20.322 1.604
5. 11 BR Engineering BR1 LM P1 47 3'21.304 2.586
6. 1 Rebellion R13 LM P1 46 3'21.549 2.831
7. 17 BR Engineering BR1 LM P1 46 3'21.557 2.839
8. 4 ENSO CLM P1/01 LM P1 37 3'23.795 5.077
9. 5 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 LM P1 15 3'25.203 6.485
10. 26 Oreca 07 LM P2 52 3'26.529 7.811
11. 48 Oreca 07 LM P2 37 3'27.054 8.336
12. 28 Oreca 07 LM P2 51 3'27.817 9.099
13. 31 Oreca 07 LM P2 36 3'28.178 9.460
14. 39 Oreca 07 LM P2 10 3'28.218 9.500
15. 22 Ligier JSP 217 LM P2 43 3'28.284 9.566
16. 37 Oreca 07 LM P2 24 3'29.135 10.417
17. 40 Oreca 07 LM P2 32 3'29.204 10.486
18. 47 Dallara P217 LM P2 41 3'29.214 10.496
19. 35 Dallara P217 LM P2 44 3'29.793 11.075
20. 23 Ligier JSP 217 LM P2 43 3'30.168 11.450
21. 36 Alpine A470 LM P2 24 3'30.750 12.032
22. 38 Oreca 07 LM P2 38 3'30.922 12.204
23. 32 Ligier JSP 217 LM P2 50 3'31.056 12.338
24. 29 Dallara P217 LM P2 48 3'31.465 12.747
25. 34 Ligier JSP 217 LM P2 42 3'31.837 13.119
26. 44 Ligier JSP 217 LM P2 45 3'34.062 15.344
27. 50 Ligier JSP 217 LM P2 24 3'36.927 18.209
28. 33 Ligier JSP 217 LM P2 51 3'37.463 18.745
29. 25 Ligier JSP 217 LM P2 51 3'42.404 23.686
30. 93 Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE Pro 39 3'50.121 31.403
31. 92 Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE Pro 45 3'50.859 32.141
32. 91 Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE Pro 45 3'50.862 32.144
33. 66 Ford GT LM GTE Pro 39 3'51.498 32.780
34. 71 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LM GTE Pro 48 3'51.521 32.803
35. 94 Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE Pro 42 3'51.695 32.977
36. 51 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LM GTE Pro 34 3'51.738 33.020
37. 68 Ford GT LM GTE Pro 37 3'51.776 33.058
38. 69 Ford GT LM GTE Pro 30 3'51.898 33.180
39. 67 Ford GT LM GTE Pro 47 3'52.692 33.974
40. 88 Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE Am 49 3'52.903 34.185
41. 52 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LM GTE Pro 51 3'52.944 34.226
42. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C7R LM GTE Pro 47 3'53.048 34.330
43. 63 Chevrolet Corvette C7R LM GTE Pro 46 3'53.397 34.679
44. 82 BMW M8 GTE LM GTE Pro 43 3'53.677 34.959
45. 97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LM GTE Pro 50 3'53.727 35.009
46. 86 Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE Am 37 3'53.834 35.116
47. 54 Ferrari 488 GTE LM GTE Am 51 3'53.976 35.258
48. 77 Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE Am 44 3'54.004 35.286
49. 56 Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE Am 43 3'54.133 35.415
50. 90 Aston Martin Vantage LM GTE Am 41 3'54.527 35.809
51. 95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LM GTE Pro 53 3'54.530 35.812
52. 81 BMW M8 GTE LM GTE Pro 39 3'54.663 35.945
53. 98 Aston Martin Vantage LM GTE Am 42 3'55.792 37.074
54. 85 Ferrari 488 GTE LM GTE Am 38 3'55.845 37.127
55. 61 Ferrari 488 GTE LM GTE Am 40 3'56.049 37.331
56. 70 Ferrari 488 GTE LM GTE Am 47 3'56.158 37.440
57. 99 Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE Am 36 3'56.674 37.956
58. 84 Ferrari 488 GTE LM GTE Am 42 3'57.016 38.298
59. 80 Porsche 911 RSR LM GTE Am 39 3'58.059 39.341
60. 6 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 LM P1 7 4'06.812 48.094

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Any surprises from Le Mans testing? Looking forward to the big event? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

 

[muzikant]

Yepp sure in control...there is no Posche and Audi

 

[Richard Dastardly]

To anyone paying attention, not much of a surprise they're not far ahead. The actual surprise is the SMP cars.

LMP-H can still do longer stints, but then again it's still Toyota.