No.7 Toyota quickest in 24 Hours of Le Mans qualifying

The no.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing car has topped the standings of the rain-affected 24 Hours of Le Mans qualifying.

The starting grid of the 90th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans started shaping up on Wednesday during qualifying. Six quickest cars from each category would advance to the Hyperpole to determine the polesitters on Thursday.

Numerous cars lined up at the pit lane exit at the start of the 1-hour session. Robin Frijns in the no.31 Team WRT car took the early lead in the LMP2 category, followed by Antonio Felix da Costa from JOTA and Realteam Racing by WRT’s Norman Nato.

Kamui Kobayashi in the no.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing car was leading in the Hypercar class. Later on, Jose Maria Lopez replaced Kobayashi behind the wheel.

Track limits were a concern throughout the whole session as some of lap times had to be deleted due to violations.

The session was red-flagged after Michael Fassbender’s crash in the no.93 Proton Competition Porsche.

After the track was cleaned up, the session was resumed. The track was busy again, while rain was approaching. The no.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing car, driven by Brendon Hartley left the garage for the first time.

Rain started falling down at the track with around 25 minutes to go. Team Penske’s Felipe Nasr felt its impact as he had a tricky moment at the Dunlop chicane.

Rain intensified, so drivers came back to their garages to avoid the risk of damaging cars in difficult conditions. Despite damp track surface, the no.8 Toyota car was back eventually.

There were no changes in the timesheets. The no.7 Toyota car had the quickest lap time of the session.

The leaders of the 24 Hours of Le Mans qualifying in each class: