The temperatures were as high as the previous day on the Algarve circuit when qualifying got under way. Valle Makela was the first to go for a time, and the Finn at the wheel of the Hope PoleVision racing prototype was also the first to get under the 1m 40s barrier. Dimitri Enjalbert gave him a run for his money in the battle for the quickest time in the first 10 minutes.

As the drivers began their third flying lap, the youngest driver in the field, Samuele Buttarelli, surprised everybody by lapping in under 1m 40s, and the F2 driver set the best time so far in 1m 39.724s. Nico Verdonck got to within half‐a‐second of the Italian, and hot on his heels came Swiss woman driver Natacha Gachnang, who was very much in her element on the Portuguese circuit. The second half of the session was fairly calm and there were no major improvements. DAMS bagged pole for the first race thanks to Butarelli who made a stunning Formula Le Mans Cup debut.

Gavin Cronje set the pace early on in the second session. The South African was very soon lapping below the 1m 40s mark, but he was not the only one to do so, as Johan-Boris Scheier and then Jérôme d’Ambrosio went quickest. The Belgian got round in 1m 38.890s just before the half‐way mark 7/10s quicker than everybody else! Scheier, Beche, Campos Hull and Zollinger went at it hammer and tongs for third place with the honours finally going to the Boutsen Energy Racing driver. He went one better and got up into second spot just before the flag fell to end the session pushing Cronje back to row 2 on the grid. D’Ambrosio gave DAMS its second pole of the afternoon with a lap in 1m 38.554s.

Nico Verdonck: “It wasn’t too bad but we lacked just that little bit of extra pace. The car was slightly better yesterday in free practice. It’s a pity we couldn’t have continued in the same vein. The track changes a lot from one session to another, and so does the grip. We’re on the front row and that’s the most important thing: all the more so as those in front of us are not involved in the title chase so it’s not too serious. We’ll try and finish on the podium if we can’t win.”

Gavin Cronje: “It was a good session. We had a fair idea of what to expect from it with the arrival of some new very quick drivers. I ran into some traffic, which prevented me from doing better than third. But it’s nothing to worry about as I’m convinced that we can win tomorrow. It’s a nice circuit, a kind of a roller‐coaster in fact, and you feel a bit disoriented here. The only problem – it’s too hot!”

Natacha Gachnang: “The session went off pretty well overall. We’re not on pole but third s a very encouraging result. We know we can improve for the race tomorrow as the car’s not quite perfect yet. I’m going to try and score the maximum number of points, set a good time in the race and finish on the podium if possible.”

Mathias Beche: “I’m not very happy with fifth. Yesterday, we had quite a few setup problems. We didn’t really know where we were and the adjustments have gone in the right direction. It could be better but we’re still improving. We’ll see what happens in the race, which will be difficult for everybody and there’ll probably be a few opportunities to take advantage of. You just have to be in the right place.”

Dimitri Enjalbert: “I’m not happy with this session. Neither with myself not with the car which was oversteering a lot compared to yesterday. We must correct this before tomorrow’s race.”

Damien Toulemonde: “It was very hot. There was a spike in temperature and in performance with the tyres half‐way through the session. Things then went off in relation to our rivals who were able to improve. Perhaps we should have done the same thing as some of the others: namely, stopped at our pit to let the tyres cool between two runs. Halfa‐second in relation to the second‐quickest isn’t a lot, but it’s still quite a gap.”

David Zollinger: “My car wasn’t the same as yesterday afternoon in the second free session. It was more like the one I had in the first free practice. I don’t know why but we still have a problem with the brakes. In addition, the car was sliding a lot under braking, maybe because of a tyre pressure problem. But we’re not going to let such a small glitch discourage us. I think there’ll be a few surprises in the races here.”

Pos No Cl Ty Team Drivers Veh Ses.1 Ses.2 L. Best Gap Km/h
1 11 1 Dams BUTTARELLI Samuele Formula Le Mans 1:39.774 12 1:39.774 167,887
2 8 1 Dams VERDONCK Nico Formula Le Mans 1:40.142 12 1:40.142 0:00.368 167,270
3 18 1 Hope Pole Vision Racing GACHNANG Natacha Formula Le Mans 1:40.268 10 1:40.268 0:00.494 167,060
4 6 1 Boutsen Energy Racing ENJALBERT Dimitri Formula Le Mans 1:40.430 11 1:40.430 0:00.656 166,791
5 5 1 Boutsen Energy Racing KRAIHAMER Dominik Formula Le Mans 1:40.534 11 1:40.534 0:00.760 166,618
6 17 1 Hope Pole Vision Racing VALLE Makela Formula Le Mans 1:40.744 11 1:40.744 0:00.970 166,271
7 3 1 Applewood – LD Autosport TOULEMONDE Damien Formula Le Mans 1:40.826 12 1:40.826 0:01.052 166,136
8 9 1 Ibanez Racing Service CAVAILHES William Formula Le Mans 1:41.067 12 1:41.067 0:01.293 165,740
9 4 1 Applewood – LD Autosport FAGGIONATO Marc Formula Le Mans 1:42.112 12 1:42.112 0:02.338 164,043
10 7 1 Dams MORO Luca Formula Le Mans 1:43.324 11 1:43.324 0:03.550 162,119
11 20 1 Escuela Espanola Pilotos KANAROGLOU Kosta Formula Le Mans 1:44.999 11 1:44.999 0:05.225 159,533
12 15 1 Boutsen Energy Racing DUCHENE Thomas Formula Le Mans 1:47.908 11 1:47.908 0:08.134 155,232
Qualifying Practice 1

Pos No Cl Ty Team Drivers Veh Ses.1 Ses.2 L. Best Gap Km/h
1 11 1 Dams D’AMBROSIO Jerome Formula Le Mans 1:38.554 7 1:38.554 169,966
2 5 1 Boutsen Energy Racing SCHEIER Joan-Boris Formula Le Mans 1:39.234 13 1:39.234 0:00.680 168,801
3 8 1 Dams CRONJE Gavin Formula Le Mans 1:39.252 13 1:39.252 0:00.698 168,770
4 20 1 Escuela Espanola Pilotos CAMPOS HULL Oliver Formula Le Mans 1:39.354 11 1:39.354 0:00.800 168,597
5 17 1 Hope Pole Vision Racing BECHE Mathias Formula Le Mans 1:39.376 13 1:39.376 0:00.822 168,560
6 3 1 Applewood – LD Autosport ZOLLINGER David Formula Le Mans 1:39.658 12 1:39.658 0:01.104 168,083
7 7 1 Dams KAUFMANN Wolfgang Formula Le Mans 1:40.060 12 1:40.060 0:01.506 167,408
8 6 1 Boutsen Energy Racing CHALANDON Gary Formula Le Mans 1:41.074 10 1:41.074 0:02.520 165,728
9 18 1 Hope Pole Vision Racing PILLON Christophe Formula Le Mans 1:41.194 13 1:41.194 0:02.640 165,532
10 9 1 Ibanez Racing Service MORI Richard Formula Le Mans 1:41.660 8 1:41.660 0:03.106 164,773
11 15 1 Boutsen Energy Racing CHANARD Damien Formula Le Mans 1:41.668 10 1:41.668 0:03.114 164,760
12 4 1 Applewood – LD Autosport HAEZEBROUK Philippe Formula Le Mans 1:41.732 13 1:41.732 0:03.178 164,656
Qualifying Practice 2

Source : Formula Le Mans