Le Mans has been the site of many of Aston Martin’s most memorable motorsports victories. The legendary British marque is poised to add another chapter to its rich racing history after winning the pole in both the GTE Pro and GTE Am classes for the classic 24-hour endurance race that begins Saturday at 3:00 p.m. local time.

Le Mans rookie Richie Stanaway put the No. 99 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE on top in GTE Pro with a fast lap at 3:54.928. Pedro Lamy pedaled the No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage to the GTE Am pole and third overall in the GTE classes with a lap at 3:55.102.

With higher temperatures and increased humidity during Thursday’s qualifying sessions, few were able to improve on the times set on Wednesday evening. The exception was Gianmaria Bruni, who was one of the many drivers who were penalized by the race stewards for “exceeding the track limits.” The No. 51 Ferrari 458 Italia’s laps in the Wednesday evening session were wiped out, relegating it to the last place in the hyper-competitive GTE Pro class. Undaunted by the setback, Bruni battled back and qualified the AF Corse entry second with a 3:55.025 lap. Olivier Beretta also stepped up, moving the sister No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari from seventh to fourth at 3:55.582.

A major development in the GTE Pro class was a crash by Corvette Racing driver Jan Magnussen in the high-speed Porsche Curves with 42 minutes remaining in the first session. The Dane was uninjured in the accident, but the No. 63 Corvette C7.R sustained damage to its front, rear, and right side after hard contact with the track barriers. With the No. 63 on the sidelines and the sister No. 64 Corvette C7.R parked in the garage for all but the closing minutes of the second session, the star-crossed Corvettes fell to sixth and ninth in the GTE Pro qualifying order.

After assessing the damage, Corvette Racing withdrew the No. 63 Corvette C7.R from competition.

The big mover in the GTE Am class was the No. 53 Riley Motorsports-TI Auto SRT Viper GTS-R. Qualified seventh on Wednesday, Jeroen Bleekmolen put the big V10 fourth on the final qualifying sheet.

With Aston Martin, Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette, and Viper in the GT fray, the stage is now set for another classic battle of the brands in Le Mans.