In the pursuit of absolute performance, driver and car give everything they have in a single lap. The goal, other than to be fastest on the track, is to take the start at the front of the grid and become the first leader of the 24 Hours with the world watching on. Yet, as explained by two-time pole-sitter Neel Jani (2015 and 2016): "The pole at Le Mans doesn't serve any real purpose, it's just a question of prestige."

Initially, the purpose of timed practice for the manufacturers was to demonstrate performance level, or for the smaller cars to prove they could clock a lap fast enough to qualify for the race.

From 1923 to 1962, the cars lined up in a herringbone pattern on the pit straight according to descending order of engine size, not qualifying times. Was it believed that only engine size determined performance level? In fact, free practice times were not recorded until 1962…

Pure speed is the name of the game

Only since 1963 have the fastest times of all the sessions (back then, those held on both Wednesday and Thursday were considered qualifying) were taken into account to establish the starting grid order (changed to the format of two cars per row beginning in 1971).

Just like the distance covered or the quickest in-race lap records, pole position depends on a certain number of parameters: engine size (to restrict power) and aerodynamic limitations per the regulations; circuit changes, namely to slow the cars down like the Dunlop chicane, the Mulsanne Straight chicanes, the Porsche curves, the Ford chicane, etc.); and the weather, particularly if it's raining during qualifying. But, it really all comes down to driver skill.

More often than not, it's the driver who makes all the difference in securing pole position, especially among the same car models. Only big names in racing have scored the pole at Le Mans including Formula 1 world champions and F1 drivers and/or Grand Prix winners.

Qualifying is all about pure speed and getting everything you can from your car for about three minutes (or 13.6 km)…

10 pole-sitters

Ten drivers have managed to earn two or more pole positions: Jacky Ickx (five), Kamui Kobayashi (four), Stéphane Sarrazin, Dindo Capello and Bob Wollek (three), Pedro Rodríguez, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Jean-Louis Schlesser, Philippe Alliot and Neel Jani (two). Within this exclusive top 10, only Ickx, Kobayashi and Sarrazin have clocked three poles in a row.

Ten drivers have parlayed pole position into a win: Henri Pescarolo (1974), Jacky Ickx (1975, 1981, 1982), Michele Alboreto (1997), Tom Kristensen (2003), Benoît Treluyer (2011), André Lotterer (2012), Loïc Duval (2013), Neel Jani (2016), Kamui Kobayashi (2021) and Brendon Hartley (2022).

However, none of them has been able to achieve the hat trick of pole position, victory and best lap during a single running of the 24 Hours!

Faster, faster!

Pole position times have steadily improved in function of regulation changes and circuit modifications. En 1963, Pedro Rodríguez clocked the pole in 03:50.90. Four years later, in 1967, Bruce McLaren was the first to qualify in under 03:30 (03:24.40), 16 seconds faster at the height of the duel between Ford and Ferrari.

Rodríguez became the first pole-sitter in the history of the race in 1971 at the wheel of a Porsche 917 5-litre long tail by reaching 390 kph in the Mulsanne Straight, clocking a historic time of 03:13.90 (trailing the 03:13.6 record set by teammate Jackie Oliver during preliminary testing in April by only 0.3 seconds) and by exceeding 250 kph per lap for the first time ever in qualifying. The following year, regulations limited engines to 3-litres and the circuit was slowed by the addition of the Porsche curves. It would take until 1985 for Hans-Joachim Stuck to clinch the pole in 03:14.8. In 1988 and 1989, pole position remained at 03:15 before the ACO installed two chicanes in the Mulsanne Straight, reducing lap times by about a dozen seconds.

In the 2010s, hybrid technologies boosted engines and Kamui Kobayashi's Toyota achieved a time of 03:14.791 in 2017. After Stuck in 1985, the Japanese driver reached an average speed of 251 kph per lap, setting a new record at the circuit.

Pole position and in-race

Let's compare some fastest qualifying laps with some best in-race laps. In 1963, Rodríguez scored the pole in 03:50.90, whereas the top in-race lap was clocked by John Surtees in 03:53.3 (3.4 seconds slower). In 1971, there was only a difference of 0.5 seconds between Rodríguez's pole and the quickest in-race lap set by Jackie Oliver. Ten years later, Jacky Ickx clinched pole position in 03:29.44 and the best in-race lap went to Hurley Haywood in 03:34, a gap of only 4.5 seconds. In 2001, the difference was just 3.5 seconds between Dindo Capello (pole in 03:32.429) and Laurent Aiello (in-race lap in 03:33.482).

While a gap of three to four seconds seemed the norm, the 2010s proved the exception to the rule. During the battles between Audi and Peugeot, the difference between qualifying and in-race times never exceeded one second. It's around this time that the 24-hour endurance race started being referred to as a sprint.

The Hyperpole was created a few years ago for the six fastest cars during qualifying in each class. With less cars on the track, the drivers can truly put the pedal to the metal. It's a stunning show and an exercise in thousands of a second. With Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac and Peugeot in the fight for pole position at this year's Centenary, who will come out on top?

PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO/Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 1963-2017 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. From top to bottom: For 40 years, Jacky Ickx has held the record for number of pole positions (1975, 1978, 1981, 1982 and 1983); the last front-engined Ferrari seen at the race, the #10 330 TRI LM driven by Pedro Rodríguez (here with teammate Roger Penske) clinched the first pole position in the history of the 24 Hours; Jacky Ickx (black helmet in 1975, #11) also set the record for most wins starting from pole position (1975, 1981 and 1982); at the wheel of the #18 Porsche 917, Pedro Rodríguez was the first to surpass an average of 250 kph per lap in 1971; three of the fastest drivers in the history of the race were Toyota teammates in 2017, with from left to right Stéphane Sarrazin (three consecutive poles in 2007, 2008 and 2009), Kamui Kobayashi (who trails Jacky Ickx's record by only one) and Mike Conway (quickest in-race lap record holder since 2019).