Two Porsche Penske Motorsport cars will start in the top five for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the #5 lining up third for Saturday’s race and the #4 in fifth.
After a stellar Hyperpole 1 session saw both cars proceed to Hyperpole 2, the pair will both line up close to the front for the iconic race.
Mathieu Jaminet put the #5 car third on the grid, with a best time of 3m23.475s, with Nick Tandy setting a 3m23.983s to start in fifth.
Both cars will now be in the fight to take the 20th overall Le Mans victory for Porsche when the race starts at 16:00 CEST on Saturday.
Felipe Nasr took the wheel of the #4 on Hyperpole 1, going fourth-quickest with his first flying lap of 3m24.758s.
He then improved to a 3m23.547s to finish the session in seventh and progress to Hyperpole 2.
Meanwhile, Julien Andlauer in the #5 car went quickest with his first attempt, a 3m23.979s putting him 0.3s clear of second-place with a fantastic lap.
He was unable to get back out for another attempt after losing a tire, but finished the session ninth to hold on to a spot in Hyperpole 2 after his brilliant first lap.
In Hyperpole 2, Jaminet went quickest with his first flying lap, setting purple first and second sectors to put a 3m23.475s on the timesheet.
The #4 went second fastest, 0.580s behind, with another 0.1s behind it to third.
As others improved, the pair dropped to third and fourth before they were split by the #15 BMW.
Wednesday’s first qualifying session saw the #5 car finish seventh, ahead of the #4 in 14th.
Julien Andlauer, at the wheel of the #5, set a 3m23.544s to comfortably make it through to Hyperpole.
Felipe Nasr in the sister car set a 3m24.584s in the closing minutes to secure his spot in the next stage of qualifying.
Kévin Estre finished fourth in the #6 entry, but the car was disqualified after the session for being below the minimum weight.
The #99 Proton Competition car will line up 20th in the Hypercar class.
In the LMGT3 class, the #92 Manthey 1st Phorm car will line up fifth for Saturday’s race after battling through both phases of Hyperpole.
Despite a much-interrupted Hyperpole 1, Riccardo Pera set a 3m54.659s to go third in the final 90 seconds of the session.
In Hyperpole 2, Richard Lietz took the wheel, with a best time of 3m55.140s to line up fifth on Saturday.
The #85 Iron Dames Manthey car and the sister Manthey #90 car will line up 19th and 20th in their class.
