Ferrari take Hyperpole victory, Antonio Fuoco and Alessandro Pier Guidi lock out front row for 24 Hours of Le Mans

Ferrari made a stunning return to Le Mans by taking Hyperpole victory and a lockout of the front row for the race.

The Italian marque had not raced in the highest class at Le Mans for 50 years, but in the centenary edition they were back in France.

And they were back in France in style, as Antonio Fuoco and team-mate Alessandro Pier Guidi locked out the front row.

Speaking to Eurosport, Ferrari co-driver Miguel Molina said: “We have no words.

“For all these people, it is less than one year the car won. I think the pole position is well deserved for everyone who is working in this project.”

Pier Guidi opened the session with a brilliant lap of 3:23.755, but that was eclipsed by Fuoco with a time of 3:22.982.

The session was stopped with five minutes remaining as a Cadillac was on fire, but Hyperpole was allowed to resume and it prompted a late dash from the teams.

While the Toyotas went back out in a bid to take pole, the Ferraris opted to stay in the garage having thrown down the gauntlet.

Brendon Hartley went hard in search of pole for Toyota Gazoo, but was unable to go faster than 3:24.341 and had to settle for third.

Felipe Nasr put his Porsche in fourth after Kamui Kobayashi had his time deleted in his Toyota for exceeding track limits.

LMP2 pole went to the IDEC Sport ORECA car of Paul Loup Chatin, while Ben Keating took the top spot in the LMGTE AM class in his Corvette.

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