Traditionally the backdrop for a fast and furious pole position shoot-out, Thursday’s qualifying sessions ahead of this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours were repeatedly disrupted by rain.

The lap times posted the previous day remained unbeaten, meaning the two Alpine A460s will begin the race from second and third on the LMP2 class grid.

Ho-Pin Tung (N°35 Baxi DC Racing Alpine) recorded the fastest LMP2 time of the day.​The 84th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours will get underway at 15:00 local time on Saturday.

The second qualifying session for this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours revved into life on a dry track at 19:00, with Ho-Pin Tung (N°35 Baxi DC Racing Alpine) and Stéphane Richelmi (N°36 Signatech-Alpine) the first drivers to take to the track for the squad.

Just before the heavens opened, Ho-Pin set what would transpire to be the quickest lap of the day, in a time of 3m39.559s.

After both cars returned to the pits for a short while to let the shower pass, Nelson Panciatici (N°35) and Nicolas Lapierre (N°36) took over behind the wheel, with the objective of evaluating the performance of the Dunlop wet-weather and intermediate tyres. At the end of the session, Tung and Gustavo Menezes were able to gain some experience in the inclement conditions.

The third and final qualifying session got underway at 22:00 and having eased off during the break, the rain reappeared with a vengeance, in so doing scuppering all efforts to improve upon the previous day’s times.

Having joined the track at the start, David Cheng and Menezes both returned to the pits just before the race director brought out the red flag.

When the action resumed around the Circuit de la Sarthe, only one hour remained on the clock and Richelmi concluded proceedings inside the cockpit of the N°36 entry.

On Saturday, competitors will have one more chance to assess their cars during the morning warm-up at 09:45, before Hollywood actor Brad Pitt waves the flag to start the race at 15:00.

Bernard Ollivier, Alpine Deputy Managing Director: “Notwithstanding the extremely difficult conditions, the Alpine A460 confirmed its potential by posting the fastest LMP2 lap of the day. These two days of practice and qualifying have enabled the team to prepare for whatever weather the race has to throw at us. We are all keen to put on a good show for our loyal fans!”

Philippe Sinault, Signatech-Alpine Team Principal: “Mindful that we have a 24-hour race ahead of us in less than two days’ time, we elected not to take even the slightest of risks today. When we deemed that the rain was too heavy, we called the cars back to the pits. It goes without saying that we would have liked to complete more laps on a wet track, but the most important thing is that both of our cars are very well-placed on the starting grid. We are ready for the biggest race of the year!”

Ho-Pin Tung: “I only managed to get a few laps in on a dry track today, and the level of rain we saw meant there was far less grip available than yesterday. These conditions were clearly not conducive to challenging for pole position, but they nonetheless allowed us to complete some vital pre-race work. I think our performance accurately reflects the potential that we have shown ever since the official Test Day. Both Alpine A460s are firmly on the pace, which bodes well for the race.”

Nicolas Lapierre: “Today enabled all of the drivers to gain experience of the kind of tricky conditions that could reoccur in the race on Saturday. As we expected in light of the weather forecast, these two sessions had no bearing on the final qualifying positions, but I’m confident we’re ready for the race. We now have a much better understanding of the operating window of the intermediate tyres, and we should be able to react quickly and efficiently when circumstances dictate.”

LMP2 Classification – Qualifying (Combined)1. G-Drive N°26 – 3m36.605s2. Baxi DC Racing Alpine N°35 – 3m37.175s3. Signatech-Alpine N°36 – 3m37.225s4. Manor N°44 – 3m38.037s5. Michael Shank Racing N°49 – 3m38.837s