For the first time since 2006, Audi will start on pole for the Le Mans 24 Hours with Benoit Treluyer making the most of a clear run to set the fastest time in the evening qualifying session.
Treluyer who will share the R18 TDI with Marcel Fassler and André Lotterer, will start on the front row with another Audi of Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller.
Traffic was the major issue for the Peugeot 908s, with any late charge thwarted by backmarkers. The second row will have Sébastien Bourdai, Simon Pagenaud and PedroLamy alongside another 908 of Stéphane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny and Nicolas Minassian.
The second and final qualifying session was held into the darkness of the Circuit de la Sarthe; the cooler air conditions providing for quicker times over the 13.629-kilometre lap.
The #1 Audi R18 (Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller) captured the provisional pole early in the session. Times did not improve until Tréluyer (Audi #2) took the top spot and it appeared that it could be an Audio 1-2-3 when Tom Kristensen pushed hard but ended the session by going off the track at Tertre Rouge.
In the GT division, Andy Priaulx in his BMW crashed heavily, but along with Joey Hand and Dirk Muller still set the third quickest time in the class. The quickest time went to the Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella/ Gianmaria Bruni/Toni Vilander ahead of the BMW of Augusto Farfus/ Jörg Muller/ Dirk Werner.
The race twice around the clock starts at 10pm Saturday evening Australian time.
Video of Priaulx accident
Le Mans 24 Hours : Qualifying
| Pos | Class | Drivers | Team/Car | Time |
| 1 | LMP1 | Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer | Audi R18 TDI | 3:25.738 |
| 2 | LMP1 | Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller | Audi R18 TDI | 3:25.799 |
| 3 | LMP1 | Lamy/Bourdais/Pagenaud | Peugeot 908 | 3:26.010 |
| 4 | LMP1 | Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian | Peugeot 908 | 3:26.156 |
| 5 | LMP1 | Capello/Kristensen/McNish | Audi R18 TDI | 3:26.165 |
| 6 | LMP1 | Gene/Wurz/Davidson | Peugeot 908 | 3:26.272 |
| 7 | LMP1 | Lapierre/Duval/Panis | ORECA Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP | 3:30.084 |
| 8 | LMP1 | Jani/Prost/Bleekemolen | Rebellion Lola-Toyota | 3:32.883 |
| 9 | LMP1 | Collard/Tinseau/Jousse | Pescarolo-Judd | 3:33.066 |
| 10 | LMP1 | Belicchi/Boullion/Smith | Rebellion Lola-Toyota | 3:34.573 |
| 11 | LMP1 | Monteiro/Moreau/Ragues | Oak Pescarolo-Judd | 3:34.933 |
| 12 | LMP1 | Ickx/Martin/Leinders | Kronos Aston Martin | 3:36.551 |
| 13 | LMP1 | Amaral/Pla/Hughes | Quifel-ASM Zytek | 3:37.393 |
| 14 | LMP2 | Mailleux/Ordonez/Ayari | Signatech ORECA-Nissan | 3:41.458 |
| 15 | LMP1 | Hein/Nicolet/Yvon | Oak Pescarolo-Judd | 3:41.908 |
| 16 | LMP2 | Leventis/Watts/Kane | Strakka HPD ARX-01d | 3:42.615 |
| 17 | LMP2 | Premat/Hallyday/Kraihamer | Oreca-Nissan | 3:43.098 |
| 18 | LMP2 | Perez Companc/Russo/Kaffer | Pecom Lola-Judd | 3:43.223 |
| 19 | LMP2 | Nakano/De Crem/Charouz | Oak Racing Pescarolo-BMW | 3:43.479 |
| 20 | LMP2 | Ojjeh/Kimber-Smith/Lombard | Greaves Zytek-Nissan | 3:43.812 |
| 21 | LMP2 | Frey/Meichtry/Rostan | Race Performance ORECA-Judd | 3:44.294s |
| 22 | LMP1 | Mucke/Turner/Klien | Aston Martin AMR-One | 3:45.918 |
| 23 | LMP2 | Erdos/Newton/Collins | RML HPD ARX-01d | 3:47.308 |
| 24 | LMP1 | Zacchia/Lammers/Elgaard | Hope ORECA | 3:47.691 |
| 25 | LMP1 | Primat/Fernandez/Meyrick | Aston Martin AMR-One | 3:48.355 |
| 26 | LMP2 | Rosier/Haezbrouck/Fournoux | Extreme Limite Norma-Judd | 3:48.420 |
| 27 | LMP2 | Barlesi/Da Rocha/Lafargue | Oak Pescarolo-Judd | 3:48.665 |
| 28 | LMP2 | Tucker/Bouchut/Barbosa | Level 5 Lola-Honda | 3:48.863 |
| 29 | GTE P | Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander | AF Corse Ferrari | 3:58.040s |
| 30 | GTE P | Farfus/Muller/Werner | BMW M3 | 3:57.592 |
| 31 | GTE P | Priaulx/Muller/Hand | BMW M3 | 3:58.426 |
| 32 | GTE P | Gavin/Magnussen/Westbrook | Corvette C6 ZR1 | 3:59.519 |
| 33 | GTE P | Farnbacher/Simonsen/Keen | Farnbacher Ferrari | 3:59.519 |
| 34 | GTE P | Beretta/Milner/Garcia | Corvette C6 ZR1 | 3:59.633 |
| 35 | GTE P | Lieb/Lietz/Henzler | Felbermayr-Proton Porsche | 3:59.662 |
| 36 | GTE P | Ortelli/Makowiecki/Melo | Luxury Racing Ferrari | 3:59.901 |
| 37 | GTE P | Goossens/Holzer/Van Lagen | Prospeed Porsche | 3:59.962 |
| 38 | GTE P | Dolan/Hancock/Buncombe | Jota Aston Martin | 4:00.747 |
| 39 | GTE P | Bell/Sugden/Maasen | JMW Ferrari | 4:00.890 |
| 40 | GTE P | Bergmeister/Long/Luhr | Flying Lizard Porsche | 4:01.024 |
| 41 | GTE P | Beltoise/Jakubowski/Thiret | Luxury Racing Ferrari | 4:01.176 |
| 42 | GTE A | Perazzini/Cioci/Breslin | AF Corse Ferrari | 4:01.282 |
| 43 | GTE P | Al Faisal/Tandy/Miller | Felbermayr-Proton Porsche | 4:01.752s |
| 44 | GTE P | Kauffman/Waltrip/Aguas | AF Corse Ferrari | 4:02.216 |
| 45 | GTE P | Pilet/Narac/Armindo | IMSA Performance Porsche | 4:02.548 |
| 46 | GTE A | Felbermayr/Felbermayr/Ried | Felbermayr-Proton Porsche | 4:03.532 |
| 47 | GTE A | Niemen/Law/Pumpelly | Flying Lizard Porsche | 4:03.648 |
| 48 | GTE A | Bourret/Gibon/Belloc | Larbre Porsche | 4:03.918 |
| 49 | GTE A | Rodrigues/Menahem/Marroc | JMB ORECA | 4:04.640 |
| 50 | GTE A | Giroix/Goethe/Wainwright | Gulf Aston Martin | 4:04.825 |
| 51 | GTE A | Krohn/Jonsson/Rugulo | Krohn Ferrari | 4:05.211 |
| 52 | GTE A | Bornhauser/Canal/Gardel | Larbre Porsche | 4:05.955 |
| 53 | GTE A | Ehret/Lynn/Wills | CRS Ferrari | 4:07.236 |
| 54 | GTE P | Hirschi/Rossiter/Mowlem | Jetalliance Lotus Evora | 4:07.465 |
| 55 | GTE A | Robertson/Robertson/Murry | Robertson Racing Ford-Doran | 4:08.208 |
| 56 | GTE P | Rich/Slingerland/Hartshorne | Jetalliance Lotus Evora | 4:12.569 |
