Bourdais Clinches Pole Position for Le Mans 24 Hours Race

Peugeot are aiming to make the most of their title defense effort in the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, as the French team has clinched pole position for this weekend's event. Not only Sebastien Bourdais powered his Peugeot 908 to the top spot on the grid with a 3:19.711 lap time, but the French team set the three fastest times in the final qualifying.

While Pedro Lamy/Sebastien Bourdais/Simon Pagenaud will start from pole position thanks to the former 4-time ChampCar champion, the front row will be completed by the Alexander Wurz/Anthony Davidson/Marc Gene team, who recorded a time 0.606 seconds slower than their Peugeot sibling.

Finally, the third place on the grid will be taken by 3-time pole sitter Franck Montagny/Stephane Sarazin/Nicolas Minassian, who were unable to extend their pole position streak to 4 in the last moments of qualifying.

“It was a really, really strong effort. Everyone is really happy with the performance of the car and how comfortable it is to drive it. I am very proud to put the #3 car on pole, but this is only the start,” said Bourdais after qualy.

“I'm impressed with the margin of progress we displayed [over last year]. The way the car drives now compared to last year is very much appreaciated. I couldn't really throw it all before, but now I really feel like I can,” added the Frenchman.

Audi had a session to forget today, as their best effort was only good for 5th place, with Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller scoring a lap time some some 8 tenths of a second slower than ORECA's team Panis/Lapierre/Duval. Kristensen/McNish/Capello will start from 6th place, ahead of Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer.

In the LMP2 class, Strakka Racing's Danny Watts clinched pole position, while the top spot in the GT1 class was clinched by YD Aston's Tomas Enge. Finally, in the GT2 class, the fastest man of the qualifying was Risi Ferrari's Gianmaria Bruni.