Stephane Sarrazin is on provisional pole in the No. 8 Peugeot. Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

Stephane Sarrazin flew to provisional pole in the No. 8 Peugeot 908 in Wednesday’s two-hour qualifying session. With a little more than half an hour remaining in the session, Sarrazin blitzed the two Audis which previously held the mark. A lap of 3:27.033 was nine tenths quicker than the two Audi R18 TDIs.

Andre Lotterer and Mike Rockenfeller put together times of 3:27.939 and 3:27.949, respectively, to lead earlier in the session.

Provisional P2 class polesitter Strakka Racing faces an uphill battle for the rest of the week after a crash by Nick Leventis in the HPD ARX-01d at the first chicane. In contrast in class, Level 5 Motorsports made it back on track after the team repaired its fuel filler and fuel pump issues from practice.

In GTE Pro, BMW set the mark with spots 1 and 3 on the provisional grid, split by the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458. American Le Mans Series teams had mixed results; Corvette Racing came in fourth and fifth, Flying Lizard 10th in class. The Lizards’ car in the GTE Am class came in second.

Four more hours of qualifying occur on Thursday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. too midnight.

Top 3 Times in Class

–LMP1–
1. #8 Peugeot Sport Total, Peugeot 908, 3:27.033
2. #1 Audi Sport Team Joest, Audi R18 TDI, 3:27.939
3. #2 Audi Sport Team Joest, Audi R18 TDI, 3:27.949

–LMP2–
1. #42 Strakka Racing, HPD ARX-01d, 3:42.615
2. #26 Signatech Nissan, Oreca 03 Nissan, 3:43.124
3. #48 Team Oreca Matmut, Oreca 03 Nissan, 3:43.654

–GTE PRO–
1. #56 BMW Motorsport, BMW M3, 3:58.426
2. #51 AF Corse, Ferrari F458 Italia, 3:58.989
3. #55 BMW Motorsport, BMW M3, 3:59.321

–GTE AM–
1. #70 Larbre Competition, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 4:03.918
2. #81 Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 4:04.747
3. #60 Gulf AMR Middle East, Aston Martin Vantage, 4:04.825