When analysis of the qualifying for Le Mans and an interview with Anthony Davidson crops up on Radio 4's Today programme you realise that - yes - the Le Mans 24 Hours is still a pretty big deal, even out there in the real world. OK, it might be of merely passing interest to a proportion of those actually AT Le Mans busy building pyramids of empty beer bottles. But if it's good enough for Radio 4 it's good enough for PH and we thought we'd better have a look at what's going on at the race track too.
Porsche on pole .. and second ... and third
And the big news from La Sarthe after the final qualifying session yesterday is that Porsche has locked out the front row of the grid for the ninth time in its history and the first time since 1988. Better than that, Neel Jani's 3min 16.887sec in the black #18 919 Hybrid he's sharing with Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas is the fastest ever lap of the Le Mans circuit since the Mulsanne Straight chicanes were installed. The red #17 car of Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley was just under a second back in second place with the white #19 car driven by Nico Hulkenberg, Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy in third.
What of those ominous Audis? They're in formation behind, the #8 R18 E-Tron Quattro of Lucas di Grassi, Loic Duval and Oliver Jarvis in fourth, the #7 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer car in fifth and the #9 Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Rast car in sixth with all three cars in the 3min 19-20sec range. Three and a half seconds back are the two Toyotas, the Nissans bring up the back of the LMP1 grid but all making it into the race. "We continue to make progress every time we go out on track," says Nissan's Technical Director Ben Bowlby. "Remember that we are tuning the car for Le Mans and developing the car all at the same time. We've got to the end of qualifying with three cars in one piece and a tonne of data so I'm happy with that."
Astons on top in both GTE Pro and GTE Am
LMP2 is lead by the KCMG Oreca Nissan of Matthew Howson, Richard Bradley and Nicolas Lapierre, followed by the G-Drive Ligier Nissan and Greaves Motorsport Gibson Nissan; last year's winning Jota Sport Gibson Nissan is in fourth.
A strong showing for Aston Martin in both GTE Pro and GTE Am too, both categories featuring Vantage GTE at the head of the pack. In Pro it's the #99 car of Richie Stanaway, Alex MacDowall and Fernando Rees up front, ahead of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 with the #97 Aston in third. Sadly Jan Magnussen's #63 Corvette won't be making the race, the damage to the car after his crash yesterday ruling it out of the race, Magnussen himself thankfully released from the circuit medical centre in good health after what was apparently a pretty big shunt in the Porsche Curves. In GTE Am it's Aston/Ferrari/Ferrari.
Radio 4's interest in Le Mans may have been piqued by having a Brit WEC champion in the running, Davidson admitting the Toyota is "a little off the pace this year" compared with the Audis and Porsches but making the point anything can happen. "I've been here in the fastest car and come away with nothing!" he said, ruefully, concluding that this could yet be his year after placing third and second previously. Whether that proves to be the case or not there are plenty of Brit drivers in leading cars in all categories and plenty of reason to get trackside and cheer them on if you're there!
Le Mans 2015 qualifying results:
LMP1
1 - Porsche 919 Hybrid (Dumas/Jani/Lieb)
2 - Porsche 919 Hybrid (Bernhard/Webber/Hartley)
3 - Porsche 919 Hybrid (Hulkenberg/Bamber/Tandy)
LMP2
1 - KCMG Oreca-Nissan (Howson/Bradley/Lapierre)
2 - G-Drive Racing Ligier-Nissan (Rusinov/Canal/Bird)
3 - Greaves Motorsport Gibson-Nissan (Hirsch/Paletou/Lancaster)
GTE PRO
1 - Aston Martin (Rees/MacDowall/Stanaway)
2 - AF Corse Ferrari (Bruni/Vilander/Fisichella)
3 - Aston Martin (Turner/Mucke/Bell)
GTE AM
1 - Aston Martin (Dalla Lana/Lamy/Lauda)
2 - AF Corse Ferrari (Collard/Perrodo/Aguas)
3 - SMP Racing Ferrari (Bertolini/Shaytar/Basov)