With the lure of double the points on offer, 56 teams and 168 drivers representing 29 countries will battle for honours when the 24 Hours of Le Mans gets under way at the weekend.
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And if the test day was anything to go by – attended by 23,000 spectators – organisers Automobile Club de l’Ouest say over 250,000 race fans will witness the race around the 13.629km Circuit de la Sarthe, which is part public road and part race track.
French President François Hollande will witness the start of the 83rd running of the race at 15:00 (17:00 UAE) on Saturday, where three major players in the world of the automobiles will be honoured.
Provisional pole in Le Mans and a new lap record for the moment! Good first day for us @PorscheRaces! pic.twitter.com/UAAHybHnLF
— neel jani (@neeljani) June 11, 2015
William Clay Ford Jr, Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company, will be the honorary starter of the race while Tom Kristensen will be the Grand Marshal and Yoshiaki Kinoshita will be awarded the Spirit of Le Mans Trophy.
Kristensen has won the race nine times (1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2013), in 18 attempts and is a living legend in the history of the event, which has earned him the moniker ‘Mr Le Mans’.
He raced here for the first time in 1997 and won. In 2000 he joined the Audi works team and quickly became one of the spearheads of the team’s attack. In 2013 he won the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) title.
Kinoshita has dedicated his working life to Toyota’s motorsport projects combining his engineering capabilities with a personal passion for all things racing.
During the 90s he gave the Japanese manufacturer the benefit of his expertise in the World Rally Championship. At the same time his love affair with Le Mans began and he experienced the thrills and frustrations as an engine engineer on the TS010. Kinoshita is currently President of the Toyota Racing team in the WEC.
Meanwhile, back on the track ahead of race day, the Porsche 919s – which have been very quick during the first two rounds of the WEC – topped the time sheets on test day with a slight advantage over Audi, aiming for their 14th Le Mans title, followed by Toyota.
Kazuki Nakajima in the No1 Toyota, pole setter in 2014, was the first man to set a benchmark time of 3min 40sec on his first flying lap.
On a dry track, the Audi R18 e-tron Quattros and Porsche 919 hybrids soon hit back and swapped fastest times in succession. Audi’s André Lotterer, winner of the 2014 race, put in several quick laps in the 3min 22-sec bracket before being beaten by Neel Jani who lowered the benchmark by a second in the No18 Porsche 919 in a time of 3min 21.946sec.
On its return to the WEC, Nissan’s Olivier Pla in the No23 GTRLM Nismo set the best time in one of the front-engined prototypes in 3min 43.383sec after which the team had to cope with the inevitable teething problems.
The arrival of rain put a sudden end to the battle for the fastest time in the first part of the test day. During the second test session, the Porsche and Audi drivers put in determined efforts and lowered their times.
Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard set the fastest lap of the day in the No 17 Porsche in 3min 21.061sec, better than the 2014 pole position set by Nakajima in 3min 21.789sec. It began raining again and further test runs were not possible.
