Le Mans 24 Hours test day: Porsche's Jani leads wet first session
| By Gary Watkins | Sunday, May 31st 2015, 11:13 GMT |
Porsche set the pace in a rain-affected first session of the Le Mans 24 Hours test day.
Neel Jani topped the times in the #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid with a 3m21.946s before the rain came approximately one hour and 45 minutes into the session.
That put him three tenths up on Marco Bonanomi in the best of the three Audi R18 e-tron quattros on a 3m22.307s.
Andre Lotterer ended up a further six tenths behind in the next best Audi.
Stephane Sarrazin set the best Toyota time, recording a 3m26.929s in the #2 TS040 HTBRID to end up seventh in the times.
Kazuki Nakajima, who was on Saturday signed off from injuries sustained in the Spa World Endurance Championship round earlier this month, made his comeback in the #1 Toyota.
He then handed over the car to Toyota test and reserve driver Kamui Kobayashi, who undertook his first laps of the Circuit de la Sarthe in an LMP1 prototype.
The best time set by one of the new Nissan GT-R LM NISMOs was a 3m43.383s with Olivier Pla at the wheel.
Jani's time was only two tenths slower than last year's pole mark set by set by Nakajima and a similar margin quicker than Porsche's qualifying best last year.
Le Mans rookie Laurens Vanthoor was quickest in LMP2 aboard OAK Racing's Honda-engined Ligier JSP2.
The Audi factory GT driver, who took part in the test day last year, ended up on a 3m41.919s and three tenths up on Paul-Loup Chatin in the Signatech Alpine ORECA 03b.
Oliver Gavin was fastest in GTE Pro for the Corvette Racing squad.
The Briton's time aboard the #64 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R was half a second quicker than second-place Gianmaria Bruni in the best of the factory AF Corse Ferrari 458s.
GTE Am was headed by Raffaele Giammaria in the #61 AF Ferrari.
MORNING TIMES:
| Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMP1-H | R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb, F.Makowiecki | Porsche Team | Porsche | 3m21.945s | - |
| 2 | LMP1-H | F.Albuquerque, M.Bonanomi, R.Rast | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 3m22.307s | 0.362s |
| 3 | LMP1-H | M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 3m22.930s | 0.985s |
| 4 | LMP1-H | T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley, F.Makowiecki | Porsche Team | Porsche | 3m23.945s | 2.000s |
| 5 | LMP1-H | L.di Grassi, L.Duval, O.Jarvis | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 3m24.111s | 2.166s |
| 6 | LMP1-H | N.Hulkenberg, E.Bamber, N.Tandy, F.Makowiecki | Porsche Team | Porsche | 3m24.147s | 2.202s |
| 7 | LMP1-H | A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 3m26.929s | 4.984s |
| 8 | LMP1-H | A.Davidson, S.Buemi, K.Nakajima, K.Kobayashi | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 3m27.017s | 5.072s |
| 9 | LMP1 | N.Prost, M.Beche, N.Heidfeld | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/AER | 3m30.508s | 8.563s |
| 10 | LMP1 | S.Trummer, P.Kaffer, T.Monteiro | Team ByKolles | CLM/AER | 3m38.904s | 16.959s |
| 11 | LMP2 | C.Cumming, L.Vanthoor | Oak Racing | Ligier/HPD | 3m41.919s | 19.974s |
| 12 | LMP2 | N.Panciatici, P-L.Chatin, V.Capillaire | Signatech Alpine | Alpine/Nissan | 3m42.273s | 20.328s |
| 13 | LMP2 | M.Howson, R.Bradley, N.Lapierre | KCMG | ORECA/Nissan | 3m42.453s | 20.508s |
| 14 | LMP2 | S.Dolan, M.Evans, O.Turvey | JOTA | Gibson/Nissan | 3m42.547s | 20.602s |
| 15 | LMP1 | A.Imperatori, D.Kraihamer, D.Abt | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/AER | 3m42.754s | 20.809s |
| 16 | LMP1-H | O.Pla, J.Mardenborough, M.Chilton | Nissan Motorsports | Nissan | 3m43.383s | 21.438s |
| 17 | LMP2 | N.Leventis, D.Watts, J.Kane | Strakka Racing | Dome/Nissan | 3m43.833s | 21.888s |
| 18 | LMP2 | G.Hirsch, B.Wirdheim, J.Lancaster, G.Paletou | Greaves Motorsport | Gibson/Nissan | 3m44.380s | 22.435s |
| 19 | LMP2 | R.Rusinov, J.Canal, S.Bird | G-Drive Racing | Ligier/Nissan | 3m45.701s | 23.756s |
| 20 | LMP2 | K.Chandhok, M.Patterson, N.Berthon | Murphy Prototypes | ORECA/Nissan | 3m46.611s | 24.666s |
| 21 | LMP2 | G.Yacaman, L.Derani, R.Gonzalez | G-Drive Racing | Ligier/Nissan | 3m47.975s | 26.030s |
| 22 | LMP2 | S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, D.Hansson | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/HPD | 3m47.981s | 26.036s |
| 23 | LMP1-H | H.Tincknell, M.Krumm, A.Buncombe | Nissan Motorsports | Nissan | 3m48.835s | 26.890s |
| 24 | LMP2 | P.Thiriet, T.Gommendy, L.Badey | Thiriet by TDS Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 3m48.863s | 26.918s |
| 25 | LMP2 | M.Mediani, D.Markozov, N.Minassian | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/Nissan | 3m48.960s | 27.015s |
| 26 | LMP2 | P.Ragues, O.Webb, Z.Amberg | Team SARD Morand | Morgan/SARD | 3m49.312s | 27.367s |
| 27 | LMP2 | L.Roussel, D.Cheng, H-Pin Tung | Pegasus Racing | Morgan/Nissan | 3m49.461s | 27.516s |
| 28 | LMP2 | E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, J.Fogarty | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/HPD | 3m49.697s | 27.752s |
| 29 | LMP2 | J.Nicolet, J-M.Merlin, E.Maris | Oak Racing | Ligier/HPD | 3m51.233s | 29.288s |
| 30 | LMP2 | T.Krohn, N.Jonsson | Krohn Racing | Ligier/Judd | 3m51.257s | 29.312s |
| 31 | LMP1-H | T.Matsuda, M.Shulzhitskiy, L.Ordonez | Nissan Motorsports | Nissan | 3m51.334s | 29.389s |
| 32 | LMP2 | P.Perret, I.Bellarosa, J.Ibanez | Ibanez Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 3m52.298s | 30.353s |
| 33 | LMP2 | M.Aleshin, K.Ladygin, A.Ladygin | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/Nissan | 3m52.613s | 30.668s |
| 34 | LMP2 | T.Fujii, S.Hoshino, C.Klien | KCMG | ORECA/Judd | 3m53.433s | 31.488s |
| 35 | GTE Pro | O.Gavin, T.Milner, J.Taylor | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet | 3m58.162s | 36.217s |
| 36 | GTE Pro | G.Bruni, T.Vilander, G.Fisichella | AF Corse | Ferrari | 3m58.616s | 36.671s |
| 37 | GTE Pro | P.Pilet, F.Makowiecki, W.Henzler, S.Muller | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 3m59.043s | 37.098s |
| 38 | GTE Pro | J.Magnussen, A.Garcia, R.Briscoe | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet | 4m00.549s | 38.604s |
| 39 | GTE Am | P.Mann, R.Giammaria, M.Cressoni | AF Corse | Ferrari | 4m00.677s | 38.732s |
| 40 | GTE Pro | R.Lietz, M.Christensen, J.Bergmeister, S.Muller | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 4m00.930s | 38.985s |
| 41 | GTE Am | V.Shaitar, A.Bertolini, A.Basov | SMP Racing | Ferrari | 4m01.303s | 39.358s |
| 42 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, J.Calado, O.Beretta | AF Corse | Ferrari | 4m01.641s | 39.696s |
| 43 | GTE Am | F.Perrodo, E.Collard, R.Aguas | AF Corse | Ferrari | 4m02.401s | 40.456s |
| 44 | GTE Pro | D.Turner, S.Mucke, R.Bell | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 4m02.707s | 40.762s |
| 45 | LMP3 | M.Chilton, T.Matsuda, A.Buncombe | Team LNT | Ginetta/Nissan | 4m02.712s | 40.767s |
| 46 | GTE Am | B.Sweedler, T.Bell, J.Segal | Scuderia Corsa | Ferrari | 4m02.887s | 40.942s |
| 47 | GTE Am | G.Roda, P.Ruberti, K.Poulsen | Larbre Competition | Chevrolet | 4m03.116s | 41.171s |
| 48 | GTE Pro | F.Rees, A.MacDowall, R.Stanaway | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 4m03.273s | 41.328s |
| 49 | GTE Am | P.Dempsey, P.Long, M.Seefried | Dempsey Racing - Proton | Porsche | 4m03.367s | 41.422s |
| 50 | GTE Am | P.Perazzini, M.Cioci | AF Corse | Ferrari | 4m03.767s | 41.822s |
| 51 | GTE Am | C.Ried, K.Al Qubaisi, K.Bachler | Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing | Porsche | 4m03.888s | 41.943s |
| 52 | LMP2 | Y.Yamagishi, P.Perret, J.Ibanez, S.Raffin | Ibanez Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 4m03.925s | 41.980s |
| 53 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 4m05.448s | 43.503s |
| 54 | GTE Am | J.Laursen, M.Mac, A.Rizzoli | Formula Racing | Ferrari | 4m05.947s | 44.002s |
| 55 | GTE Am | A.Al Faisal, K.Giermaziak, M.Avenatti | JMW Motorsport | Ferrari | 4m06.469s | 44.524s |
| 56 | GTE Am | D.Cameron, M.Griffin, A.Mortimer | AF Corse | Ferrari | 4m06.955s | 45.010s |
| 57 | LMP3 | L.Tomlinson, C.Robertson, C.Hoy | Team LNT | Ginetta/Nissan | 4m07.232s | 45.287s |
| 58 | GTE Am | H.C.Chen, G.Vannelet, M.Parisy | Team AAI | Porsche | 4m07.735s | 45.790s |
| 59 | GTE Am | M.Wainwright, A.Carroll, P.Keen | Gulf Racing UK | Porsche | 4m08.536s | 46.591s |
| 60 | GTE Am | J.Bleekemolen, B.Keating, M.Miller | Riley Motorsports-Ti Auto | SRT/Dodge | 4m08.609s | 46.664s |
| 61 | GTE Am | R.Goethe, S.Hall, F.Castellacci | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 4m10.083s | 48.138s |
| 62 | GTE Am | J.San Chen, A.Kapadia, X.Maassen | Team AAI | Porsche | 4m10.736s | 48.791s |
| 63 | GTE Pro | M.Sorensen, C.Nygaard, N.Thiim | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 4m16.916s | 54.971s |
| 64 | GTE Am | Y.Mallegol, J-M.Bachelier, H.Blank, E.Mouez | AF Corse | Ferrari | 4m20.327s | 58.382s |
