The #24 Nielsen Racing Oreca made it through to the shootout after Thursday’s qualifying efforts by David Heinemeier-Hannson, whose 3:37.665s put them eighth.
In Hyperpole 1, Ed Pearson narrowly scraped into the top 10 to advance to Hyperpole 2 with a 3:35.140s to his name to be 1.378s off the pace.
In Hyperpole 2, Doohan set a 3:33.510s that had him sitting second as the chequered flag flew.
It looked like he might snag a front row start until a last-gap effort from Job van Uitert shot the #28 IDEC Sport Oreca to second.
Pole position went to Esteban Masson in the #29 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca, who set a 3:32.855s in the final minute.
“First Le Mans Hyperpole finished. An incredible job by David and Ed to get us into this position in order for me to be able have a go at Hyperpole 2,” said Doohan.
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“It was already a great accomplishment to be starting inside the top 10.
“The session was a little bit messier than I would have liked, but in the end, to be finishing up towards the pointy end in P3, we have to be happy.
“Although, I want, and we all want to be P1, we have a long 24 hours ahead of us where it’s not going to differ much.
“Our focus now shifts to the 24 hours ahead. We have a night session tonight, one hour, followed by a warm-up on Saturday morning.
“A very big thank you to the whole Nielsen team and all the boys and girls for pushing so hard and striving to get further and further up the grid.”
Yasser Shahin will start the #92 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in 15th after Ricardo Pera failed to make it out of Hyperpole 1.
Free Practice 4 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans gets underway at 7:00am AEST.
24 Hours of Le Mans – How to watch, schedule, entry list & more
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