Louis Deletraz took an impressive LMP2 pole position for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, setting an unbeatable 3:33.217 laptime at the wheel of the #14 AO By TF Oreca-07 Gibson machine.
Deletraz’s time in the pro/am entry affectionately known as ‘Spike the Dragon’ was a full six-tenths clear of second-best Job van Uitert in the #28 Idec Sport entry.
Following Wednesday’s Qualifying session, 23 cars across all classes were granted the opportunity to compete in the 30-minute Hyperpole session and fight for pole position.
In LMP2, COOL Racing’s Malthe Jakobsen was fastest in the #37 COOL Racing Oreca 07-Gibson and the impetus was on the COOL Racing outfit to convert that into topping the timesheets in Hyperpole.
However, Jakobsen’s charge was halted by a late Red Flag in the session triggered by one of the Hypercars and he fell down the order as a result.
Proceedings got underway 35 minutes later than the originally proposed 20:00 local start time after a heavy crash in the Road to Le Mans race between Mulsanne stand Indianapolis inflicted significant damage to the barriers, requiring equally significant repairs.
That coincided with fears rain could interfere with the Hyperpole session, with team members looking apprehensively to the sky.
The circuit remained dry for the start of Hyperpole proceedings as the eight LMP2 machines ventured out onto the iconic Circuit de la Sarthe.
Mathias Beche was the first to get a flying lap in the pro/am #65 Panis Racing Oreca 07 – Gibson machine, setting a 3:37.216 benchmark.
Beche was beaten by Patrick Pilet in the #10 Vector Sport car, as well as Jakobsen in the #37 entry and provisional polesitter Louis Deletraz in the #14 AO Racing entry.
Deletraz pushed his early benchmark of 3:35.620 up to 3:33.994 with his second attempt, a full 0.779 ahead of Jakobsen as Ben Hanley slotted into third in the #23 United Autosports car.
Halfway through the session, seven of the eight-strong LMP2 field elected to pit for fresh rubber and commit to another assault of laps.
But with Deletraz enjoying a substantial margin over the rest of the field, could anyone stop him from claiming pole?
The answer to that question was interrupted when Hypercar driver Dries Vanthoor went off at Indianapolis, triggering a red flag with seven minutes and 41 seconds left on the clock.
That came at just the wrong time for Jakobsen, who was setting the timing screens alight with purple sectors before the stoppage.
As the session came back to green, six of the eight LMP2s returned to the track for a final time attack, but Jakobsen’s fight for pole came to an end as he remained in the pits, as did DKR Engineering’s Laurents Hörr.
As the chequered flag fell, van Uitert looked as if he’d pipped ‘Spike the Dragon’ to pole with a 3:33.827 laptime, only for Deletraz to cross the line moments later with a time that was 0.610 faster.
Still, van Uitert could proudly claim top billing out of the all-pro LMP2 contingent.
Beche improved to third in the pro/am Panis Racing entry with a 3:34.053 laptime, ahead of fourth-placed Hanley, who was 1.004 seconds off of pole and made it three pro/am cars inside the top four.
Oliver Jarvis rounded out the top five in the #22 United Autosports car (3:34.270) ahead of sixth-placed Jakobsen who tumbled down the order after remaining in the pits for the final moments of the session.
Completing the order was Hörr (3:35.699) and Vector Sport’s Patrick Pilet at the wheel of the #10 entry (3:35.855).
