Allan McNish to Start 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours from Fifth on Grid
Audi’s Allan McNish will line up fifth for the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours, as the marque’s R18 TDIs secured both front-row slots in a close qualifying battle with Peugeot.
Audi’s Allan McNish will start the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours from fifth position after a tightly fought qualifying session that saw the German manufacturer secure both front-row spots for its new R18 TDI prototypes. The grid for the 79th running of the endurance classic was set on 10 June 2011, with the lead Audi crewed by Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer taking pole ahead of their teammates.
The R18 TDI proved marginally faster over a single lap than Peugeot’s 908 HDi, but the gap was slim. Audi’s second car, driven by Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller, completed the front row. Peugeot’s challenge was led by the trio of Simon Pagenaud, Sébastien Bourdais and Pedro Lamy, who qualified on the second row alongside the sister Peugeot of Stéphane Sarrazin, Nicolas Minassian and Franck Montagny. McNish, sharing his Audi with Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello, will start from the third row, slotting in behind the two Peugeots.
Audi and Peugeot battle for supremacy
The qualifying results reflected the ongoing duel between Audi and Peugeot, with little to separate the two manufacturers on outright pace. The fastest Audi lapped just three tenths ahead of the quickest Peugeot, underlining how close the fight was expected to be over the 24-hour race distance. Both teams fielded new or heavily revised machinery for 2011, with Audi’s R18 TDI making its Le Mans debut against Peugeot’s updated 908 HDi.
Reliability, strategy and traffic management were set to play a decisive role, as neither Audi nor Peugeot could claim a clear advantage in qualifying trim. The R18’s pace advantage was measured, and the Peugeots demonstrated consistency through the sessions. McNish’s fifth place put him ahead of several other factory entries, but left Audi with work to do to convert qualifying speed into race victory.
Starting grid: Top LMP1 qualifiers
- 1st: Audi R18 TDI (Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer)
- 2nd: Audi R18 TDI (Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller)
- 3rd: Peugeot 908 HDi (Pagenaud/Bourdais/Lamy)
- 4th: Peugeot 908 HDi (Sarrazin/Minassian/Montagny)
- 5th: Audi R18 TDI (McNish/Capello/Kristensen)
GTE-Pro pole for BMW
In the GTE-Pro category, BMW secured pole with the M3 GT driven by Augusto Farfus, Jörg Müller and Dirk Werner. The Ferrari 458 Italia of Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander will start alongside, with the second BMW M3 GT of Andy Priaulx, Dirk Müller and Joey Hand just behind. The GTE field promised a close contest between BMW and Ferrari throughout the 24 hours.
