LE MANS, France -- Fernando Alonso's Toyota team topped the opening qualifying session for this weekend's Le Mans 24 Hours.
Kazuki Nakajima's 3:17.70 put the No.8 team top of the order on Wednesday evening, 0.107s quicker than Toyota's second team. The next nearest car was over two seconds behind, underlining the raw pace advantage the Japanese manufacturer has over the rest of the field. Rain is currently forecast to fall during Thursday's two sessions, meaning that time could be enough to claim pole position.
Alonso took over from his other teammate, Sebastien Buemi, half an hour into the session to get his first experience of Le Mans at night.