In the runup to what should be a fun-to-watch 24 Hours of Le Mans, diesel-powered cars got the five fastest qualifying times. All the top times were set during the first four-hour qualifying session on Wednesday night, as heavy rain on Thursday meant that no one improved their times.
The Peugeot 908 driven by Stéphane Sarrazin crossed the finish line just after the time limit expired, beating Alan McNish's best time in the three Audi R10s by 0.6 seconds. The top five qualifiers were, in order:
1. Lamy/Sarrazin/Bourdais (No. 8 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP), 3m 26.344s
2. Capello/Kristensen/McNish (Audi R10), +0.572s
3. Gene/Minassian/Villeneuve (No. 7 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP), +1.380s
4. Biela/Pirro/Werner (Audi R10), +1.957s
5. Luhr/Rockenfeller/Premat (Audi R10), +3.392s
We already know the Audis can run the distance reliably, the big question now is can the hometown crew from Peugeot maintain its pace for twenty-four hours.
Read Article