Toyota driver Kamui Kobayashi has just broken the ultimate lap record of the current layout of the Circuit de la Sarthe, in the second qualifying session ahead of the 85th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The Japanese driver, in the #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, set an astonishing 3:14.791 time on his first flying lap after the red-flagged session restarted. It beat Neel Jani’s 3:16.89 lap in 2015 driving a Porsche 919, which before tonight was the fastest lap of the circuit since the chicanes were put in in 1989. It’s also the highest average-speed during a lap ever.
The record for the fastest lap of the circuit, in any layout, is still held Pedro Rodriguez, who set a 3:13.90 back in 1971 in a Porsche 917.
As it stands Kobayashi’s lap is 2.4 seconds faster than the other runners in LMP1 H, with an hour to go in Qualifying 2.
In addition to that, the LMP2 lap record has also been improved, by Vitaly Petrov in the #25 Manor Oreca, a 3:25.549. As too has the best ever GTE Am time of the circuit. Dries Vanthoor in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 reeled off a 3:54.543.
Will the time tumble further tonight?
