Gianmaria Bruni set a sensational time in the first qualifying session of the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans in the opening minutes that would be good enough to keep the Porsche GT Team on top of the GTE Pro lap times.
The Italian who is making his 24 hour Porsche debut at Circuit de la Sarthe this year recorded a lap time of 3:47.504, with the nearest driver to get near it, Michael Christensen in the sister Porsche 911 RSR 1.593 seconds behind.
“Our clear goal was to be the fastest in qualifying. We’ve been working towards this since the test day.” said Pascal Zurlinden, Director GT Factory Motorsport.
“Gianmaria Bruni pulled out all stops and put in a perfect lap right at the start. We knew that this could only happen at the beginning of the session, because that’s when the traffic is lightest.”
Unfortunately for Bruni after setting his fastest lap he would lose time after sliding in to the gravel at the first corner.
“My first lap was fantastic with very little traffic and so I was able to coax everything out of the car.” explained Bruni.
“In the second lap I took Turn 1 exactly as I had in the previous lap, however I suddenly lost the car while turning in and ended up in the gravel.
“When I climbed out I noticed that the front right tyre was flat. I’m very pleased with my great time.”
View the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans archive to catch up with all of the action.
The Checkered Flag – Live and direct from Circuit de la Sarthe
