overall courtesy of Lotterer.
At the fall of the green there was just two minute left on the clock, it was a literal traffic jam on the serpentine track. Jani ran wide on his first flyer as did Pipo Derani - collecting the wall in the process.
Jani made sure not to inhibit team mate Brendon Hartley, but nothing would stop the number 8 Audi of Loic Duval and Lucas di Grassi.
Gustavo Menezes lead the way early in LMP2 in the Alpine A460-Nissan only to be usurped by the Ligier JS P2 of Bruno Senna. Richard Bradley and Matt Rao would take third for Manor in the Oreca 05 Nissan until the Alpine of Nicolas Lapierre hitting the barriers in an effort to chase pole.
Senna would secure pole alongside hometown hero (and race promoter) Ricardo Gonzalez, however a superb lap from Johnny Kane ensured Strakka Racing snuck in to steal third.
The number 76 Ford Performance GT of Andy Priaulx led the pack out but soon experienced door problems and was forced to pit to rectify the issue with the errant gullwing.
Pedro Lamy spun the number 98 Aston early, but was able to recover to
top the GTE Am timesheets just as stablemates Richie Stanaway and Marco Sorensen lay down the gauntlet in GTE Pro during the first few laps.
The number 67 Ford continued its woes with a spin at turn 16 – clouting the barrier but able to continue on its way. Nicki Thiim and Darren Turner took over for Stanaway and Sorensen and continues to dominate Pro, with just a tenth between them ahead of the AF Corse 488 of James Calado and Gianmaria Bruni.
Sam Bird was circumspect about the altitude power deficit between Aston Martin and Ferrari, saying “it was impossible to catch the Astons. There’s daylight between us.”
Paul Dalla Lana took GTE Am honors alongside Pedro Lamy ahead of Khaled Al Qubaisi and David Heinemeier Hansson in the Abu Dhabi Proton Racing 911 RSR.
Images: Adrenal Media