Two dramatic qualifying sessions saw two French drivers claim the class pole positions at the Circuit Paul Ricard with Fabien Michal (LMP3) and Celia Martin (GT3) both posting their fastest laps at the end of the two 15-minute sessions.
The LMP3 session started with the no77 Team Thor Ligier posting the fastest lap with Audunn Gudmundsson lapping in 1m54.064 before being pushed down to second spot by the no9 Graff Ligier of Georgios Kolovos, the Greek driver going half a second quicker.
Reigning ELMS LMP3 champion Adrien Chila went even faster with the no97 COOL Racing Ligier finishing the lap in 1m52.158 but Kolovos was on another flying and the no9 Ligier went back to the top of the time sheet with a 1m51.988 just before the session was stopped with a red flag.
The no87 COOL Racing Ligier was tipped into a spin after contact with the no43 Inter Europol Competition Ligier at the last corner.James Sweetnam managed to get the no97 car back to the pits, but Tim Creswick had to retire at the side of the track.
The session resumed with the no44 Team Virage Ligier of Jamie Falvey going quickest with a 1m51.026.However, this didn’t last long before Fabien Michal put in a 1m50.750 lap in the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine with less than four minutes of the session remaining.
Falvey went back to the top of the screens with a 1m50.501 with just 60 seconds left on the clock, but Michal was going even quicker, and he crossed the line in 1m49.975 to claim his second pole position in two races.
Adrien Chila claimed third place on the grid in the no97 COOL Racing Ligier with a 1m50.801 and will start on Row 2 alongside the no2 CD Sport Ligier of Shahan Sarkissian, the Lebanese driver finishing on 1m51.247.
GT3: Celia Martin Takes Pole for Iron Dames
The GT3 session saw Matt Kurzejewski in the no51 AF Corse Ferrari and Celia Martin in the no83 Iron Dames Lamborghini go head-to-head for the second pole position of the season.
Martin posted the fastest time on the first flying lap but Darren Malkin in the no24 Steller Motorsport Audi made a bid for the top spot with a 1m58.371 on his second lap while Martin’s lap was deleted due to track limits.
There was drama went the no88 AF Corse of Custodio Toledo went straight on at Turn 1 in a cloud of tyre smoke, the American collecting the car and returning to the pits.
Kurzejewski went quickest at the halfway point of the 15-minute session with a 1m57.077, but only for a few seconds as Martin went even quicker in the pink Lamborghini with a 1m56.843.
The no51 Ferrari went back to the top of the timing screens with Kurzejewski going faster by two tenths with just 4 minutes of the session remaining.Martin was unable to respond on her next but gathered it up for the final lap. She crossed the line in 1m56.485, 0.156s faster than the Ferrari to claim her first pole position in the Michelin Le Mans Cup.
The no24 Steller Motorsport Audi went back to third at the end of the session after Darren Malkin lapped in 1m56.768 and will line up on row 2 of the grid with the no74 Kessel racing Ferrari of Andrew Gilbert.
CLICK HERE for the result from Qualifying at Le Castellet
