Audi R18 e-tron quattro On Pole At Le Mans

2011 Le Mans winning driver Andre Lotterer secured pole position for the Audi R18 e-tron quattro. The #1 Audi is the first hybrid to take pole at the prestigious event.

Lotterer drove the pole lap, setting a superb 3m23.787s.

The German and his winning co-drivers from last year will head the field, with another Audi R18, this time the lightweight Ultra, sharing the front row.

Returning entrant Toyota claimed third place, with its trio of ex-F1 drivers of Antony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Stephan Sarrazin.

The next three places on the grid are filled by another e-tron Audi (Capello, Kristensen and McNish), the second Toyota (Wurz, Lapierre and Nakajima) and the second Audi Ultra (Bonanomi, Jarvis, Rockenfeller).

The curiosity of the field, the Nissan-powered DeltaWing, qualified 23rd, despite a hiccup in Wednesday night's qualifying when driver Michael Krumm hit the kerbs a little too hard, sending the fire extinguisher into the electrics.

The DeltaWing crew qualified well within the times of LMP2 cars and ahead of of the entire GTE class, dominated by Astons, Ferraris and Corvettes.

In that class, AF Corse managed to return the #51 Ferrari to the track 30 minutes from the end of the session to qualify 49th. Giancarlo Fisichella had crashed the car at the Porsche curves on Wednesday, the impact destroying the chassis.

The race will begin at 11pm AEST on Saturday 16th April.