Lotterer claims pole

Lotterer, who won the event last year with Switzerland's Marcel Faessler and France's Benoit Treluyer in the number two diesel Audi, put in a best lap of three minutes 23.787 seconds in the number one R18 e-tron car.

"I did not get all the perfect sectors together, but I think we can still be happy," said Lotterer.

Audi also took second place in qualifying for the 80th edition of the race at the high speed Sarthe track with the R18-ultra driven by French duo Romain Dumas and Loic Duval as well as Spaniard Marc Gene.

Toyota qualified third on their return to Le Mans after a 13-year absence with Britain's Anthony Davidson at the wheel of their petrol hybrid for the final quick lap in dry and warm conditions.

Denmark's eight-times Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen will be fourth on the grid in the number two Audi e-tron he shares with Britain's Allan McNish and Italian Rinaldo Capello.

Another former F1 driver, Karun Chandhok, was on course to become the first Indian to start the race after the JRM Honda qualified 11th with Australian David Brabham and Scotland's Peter Dumbreck.

The team had a difficult day, however, after damaging the gearbox on Wednesday.

"Yesterday I hit some debris through Tertre Rouge and the car felt like it took off. We didn't know until we checked thoroughly overnight but the impact of coming back to ground cracked the gearbox," said Chandhok.

"The team then decided to change the engine, which was pretty logical considering we were changing tomorrow anyway.

Although I would have liked to drive tonight, I'm just looking forward to getting behind the wheel at my first Le Mans on Saturday."

1. P1 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer Audi e-tron 3m23.787s

2. P1 Dumas/Duval/Gene Audi Ultra 3m24.078s

3. P1 Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin Toyota 3m24.842s

4. P1 Capello/Kristensen/McNish Audi e-tron 3m25.433s

5. P1 Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima Toyota 3m25.488s

6. P1 Bonanomi/Jarvis/Rockenfeller Audi Ultra 3m26.420s

7. P1 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka HPD 3m29.622s

8. P1 Prost/Jani/Heidfeld Rebellion Lola-Toyota 3m29.837s

9. P1 Belicchi/Primat/Bleekemolen Rebellion Lola-Toyota 3m31.866s

10. P1 Ara/Minassian/Bourdais Pescarolo Dome-Judd 3m33.066s

11. P1 Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck JRM HPD 3m35.421s

12. P1 Montagny/Baguette/Kraihamer OAK Pescarolo-Judd 3m35.584s

13. P1 Collard/Boullion/Hall Pescarolo-Judd 3m37.485s

14. P2 Martin/Charouz/Graves ADR ORECA-Nissan 3m38.181s

15. P2 Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla OAK Morgan-Judd 3m38.598s

16. P2 Panciatici/Ragues/Rusinov Signatech ORECA-Nissan 3m39.152s

17. P2 Beche/Thiriet/Tinseau TDS ORECA-Nissan 3m39.252s

18. P2 Perez-Companc/Ayari/Kaffer Pecom ORECA-Nissan 3m39.711s

19. P2 Firth/Hughes/Hartley Murphy ORECA-Nissan 3m39.877s

20. P2 Heinemeier Hansson/Leinders/Martin OAK Morgan-Nissan 3m39.899s

21. P2 Sims/Buurman/Iannetta Status Lola-Judd 3m40.280s

22. P2 Potolicchio/Dalziel/Kimber-Smith Starworks HPD-Honda 3m40.471s

23. P2 Briere/Petersen/Nakano Boutsen ORECA-Nissan 3m40.727s

24. P2 Ordonez/Brundle/Brundle Greaves Zytek-Nissan 3m40.738s

25. P2 Dolan/Hancock/Kurosawa Jota Zytek-Nissan 3m41.287s

26. P2 Mailleux/Lombard/Tresson Signatech ORECA-Nissan 3m41.982s

27. P2 Tucker/Bouchut/Diaz Level 5 HPD-Honda 3m42.224s

28. P2 Zugel/Gonzalez/Julian Greaves Zytek-Nissan 3m42.292s

29. CDNT Franchitti/Krumm/Motoyama Highcroft Delta Wing Nissan 3m42.612s

30. P2 Frey/Hirschi/Meichtry Race Performance ORECA-Judd 3m43.619s

31. P2 Holzer/Schultis/Moro Kodewa Lola-Lotus 3m45.664s

32. P2 Giroix/Johansson/Badey Gulf Lola-Nissan 3m47.244s

33. P2 Haezebrouck/Thirion/Rosier Extreme Limite Norma-Judd 3m48.025s

34. GTE P Makowiecki/Melo/Farnbacher Luxury Ferrari 3m55.393s

35. GTE P Fernandez/Mucke/Turner Aston Martin 3m55.870s

36. GTE P Gavin/Milner/Westbrook Corvette 3m55.910s

37. GTE P Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci AF Corse Ferrari 3m56.484s

38. GTE P Taylor/Garcia/Magnussen Corvette 3m57.181s

39. GTE A Neiman/Pilet/Pumpelly Flying Lizard Porsche 3m57.594s

40. GTE P Lieb/Lietz/Henzler Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 3m57.606s

41. GTE P Alfaisal/Curtis/Edwards IMSA Porsche 3m58.035s

42. GTE P Bergmeister/Long/Holzer Flying Lizard Porsche 3m58.717s

43. GTE A Simonsen/Nygaard/Poulsen Aston Martin 3m58.725s

44. GTE A Ehret/Montecalvo/Jeannette Luxury Ferrari 3m58.800s

45. P2 Rostan/Ihara/Deletraz Gulf Lola-Nissan 3m58.895s

46. GTE A Ried/Roda/Ruberti Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 3m59.181s

47. GTE A Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy Larbre Corvette 3m59.192s

48. GTE P Walker/Cocker/Wills JMW Ferrari 3m59.638s

49. GTE P Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 4m00.025s

50. GTE A Perazzini/Cadei/Griffin AF Corse Ferrari 4m00.288s

51. GTE A Armindo/Narac/Pons IMSA Porsche 4m00.332s

52. GTE A Kauffman/Aguas/Vickers AF-Waltrip Ferrari 4m00.691s

53. GTE A Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo Krohn Ferrari 4m02.323s

54. GTE A Rodrigues/Ferte/Illiano JMB Ferrari 4m02.461s

55. GTE A Bourret/Gibon/Belloc Larbre Corvette 4m02.969s

56. GTE A Camathias/Daniels/Palttala JWA Porsche 4m03.661s