Brendon Hartley secures pole position for No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid at 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans Hyperpole

The No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Brendon Hartley secured pole position for the start of the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday.

Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Kamui Kobayashi was expected to take the fastest lap and he almost delivered, having already held the record for the quickest lap on the track, as he aimed to become the first driver to take pole for four consecutive races. He also would have equalled Jacky Ickx’s record of five poles overall, but will have to wait at least until next year for the latter feat.

Kobayashi attacked early but there were strong efforts from Alpine’s Nicolas Lapierre, the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Hartley, and Glickenhaus driver Ryan Briscoe.

With seven minutes remaining Lapierre held the top spot, before Kobayashi looked to have sealed pole before Hartley recorded the fastest lap with not enough time left for him to be caught by his rivals.

In LMP2, JOTA’s Antonio Felix da Costa led the way initially under pressure of Norman Nato’s Realteam by WRT Oreca. However a late dash from Robin Frijns of WRT in the No. 31 Oreca 07-Gibson secured the top spot for the class.

In the LMGTE, pole went to Antonio Garcia in his C8.R, and in the LMGTE Am, VIncent Abril was quickest in his Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.

Hyperpole results

Hypercar

• #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid – Toyota Gazoo Racing – Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa – 3:24.408
• #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid – Toyota Gazoo Racing – Conway/Kobayashi/López – 3:24.828
• #36 Alpine A480-Gibson – Alpine Elf Team – Negrão/Lapierre/Vaxiviere – 3:24.850
• #709 Glickenhaus 007 LMH – Glickenhaus Racing – Briscoe/Westbrook/Mailleux – 3:26.841
• #708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH – Glickenhaus Racing – Pla/Dumas/Derani – 3:26.359

LMP2

• #31 Oreca 07-Gibson – WRT – Gelael/Frijns/Rast – 3:28.394
• #41 Oreca 07-Gibson – Realteam by WRT – Andrade/Habsburg/Nato – 3:29.697
• #22 Oreca 07-Gibson – United Autosports USA – Hanson/Albuquerque/Owen – 3:30.070
• #38 Oreca 07-Gibson – JOTA – Gonzáles/da Costa/Stevens – 3:30.373
• #9 Oreca 07-Gibson – Prema Orlen Team – Kubica/Delétraz/Colombo – 3:31.115
• #23 Oreca 07-Gibson – United Autosports USA – Lynn/Jarvis/Pierson – 3:31.596

LMGTE Pro

• #64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – Corvette Racing – Milner/Tandy/Sims – 3:51.491
• #63 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – Corvette Racing – García/Taylor/Catsburg – 3:51.132
• #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 – Porsche GT Team – Bruni/Lietz/Makowiecki – 3:51.382
• #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 – Porsche GT Team – Christensen/Estre/Vanthoor – 3:50.999
• #52 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – AF Corse – Molina/Fuoco/Rigon – 3:51.614
• #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – AF Corse – Pier Guidi/Calado/Serra – 3:51.502

LMGTE Am

• #61 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – AF Corse – Prette/Grunewald/Abril – 3:52.594
• #57 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – Kessel Racing – Kimura/Schandorff/Jensen – 3:52.751
• #77 Porsche 911 RSR-19 – Dempsey-Proton Racing – Ried/Priaulx/Tincknell – 3:53.006
• #98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR – Northwest AMR – Dalla Lana/Pittard/Thiim – 3:53.578
• #54 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – AF Corse – Flohr/Castellacci/Cassidy – 3:53.757
• #85 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – Iron Dames – Frey/Gatting/Bovy – 3:53.869