LE MANS, France - Porsche grabbed the top three grid positions during qualifying for the Le Mans 24 Hours race at the Sarthe Circuit on Thursday (June 11).
Driver Neel Jani (No.18 Porsche 919 hybrid), partnered with Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb, took pole position for the June 13 race with a best lap of 3min16.887.
Mark Webber (No.17) was second fastest while Force India F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg (No.19) will line up third.
VW GROUP HEAD-TO-HEAD
Champions Audi qualified fourth, fifth and sixth with the No.7 car of 2014 race-winners Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler fifth.
Read: 2015 Le Mans preview- A petrolhead's pilgrimage
Toyota placed seventh and eighth. Porsche, which returned to Le Mans with a works team in 2014 for the first time in 16 years, is the most successful automaker with 16 titles.
Good job guys... Pole position for @PorscheRaces #LEMANS #LM24 pic.twitter.com/fJ2a5I6ldI
— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) June 11, 2015
Audi, which has won the race 13 times, is expected to challenge strongly during the race even if its rivals are quicker over a single lap.
Read: Porsche 1-2-3 in Le Mans first quali
Veteran Jan Magnussen, father of McLaren Formula 1 reserve Kevin, crashed his Corvette during qualifying.
Magnussen was conscious and talking after the crash and taken to the circuit medical centre before being discharged.
Watch: Magnussen crashes at 2015 Le Mans qualifying
Kevin and racing team Corvette tweeted updates :
Dad is ok. Car took a big hit though, but the @CorvetteRacing guys are awesome so fingers crossed they can fix it! #hopefull
— Kevin Magnussen (@KevinMagnussen) June 11, 2015
A mechanical issue resulted in this evening’s crash involving @JanMagnussen. He has been checked and cleared by ACO medical. #LM24
— Corvette Racing (@CorvetteRacing) June 11, 2015