Audi locked out the top three positions in the warm-up for the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours, with Filipe Albuquerque setting the pace in the #9 R18 e-tron Quattro.

Albuquerque’s 3m19.423s lap 20 minutes into the 45-minute session is the fastest time an Audi has set this week at Le Mans, and it put him comfortably clear of the #8 and #7 crews.

Oliver Jarvis bettered Lucas di Grassi’s earlier time in the #8 car with his final lap of the session, but it was only a minor improvement and left their car more than two seconds behind Albuquerque’s effort.

The third Audi, which set its first time with 10 minutes to go in the hands of Marcel Fassler, completed the lockout for the German manufacturer on race morning.

The final lap for Romain Dumas moved the polesitting #18 Porsche into fourth place, putting it ahead of the #17 919’s best lap from Timo Bernhard early in the session.

Sebastien Buemi, who completed the whole session in the #1 Toyota, moved up to sixth with his final lap, jumping ahead of Nick Tandy’s time in the #19 Porsche.

Tandy’s team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was on course to improve the #19’s best in the closing stages.

While the Formula 1 driver’s lap briefly looked like it would be interrupted by a slow zone in the Porsche Curves, the track was cleared by the time he arrived.

Despite setting a personal best time in the first sector and an overall best in sector two, Hulkenberg pitted at the end of the lap.

The #2 Toyota, which like its sister car did not complete a driver change, rounded out the top eight in the hands of Alexander Wurz.

Only one of the Nissan GT-R LM NISMOs – which were yesterday demoted to 30th, 31st and 32nd on the grid – set a laptime, with Michael Krumm’s 3m45.730s leaving the #22 entry 26 seconds off the pace.

The #21 Nissan only completed two laps, while the #23 car did not appear at all.

LMP2 CONTENDERS CLOSE

Jota Sport led the way in LMP2, through a 3m39.559s lap set by Mitch Evans with 15 minutes remaining, as the top four cars in qualifying occupied the top four places.

Greaves Motorsport with Jon Lancaster and polesitter KCMG through Matt Howson set identical times, 0.401s behind Evans, while G-Drive Racing (OAK) was fourth.

The Ibanez Racing ORECA stopped at the first Mulsanne chicane on its maiden lap, but was able to rejoin the session, albeit without setting a representative time.

ASTON LEADS GTE

Stefan Mucke put Aston Martin Racing on top of GTE Pro, going quickest in the #97 Vantage on the last lap of the session.

Ferrari’s Gianmaria Bruni looked set to end the warm-up fastest in the #51 AF Corse-run 458 Italia, before Mucke pipped the Italian by just over two tenths with a 3m57.311s in the AMR ‘art car’.

The #71 Ferrari – which will start the racesecond from last after a penalty for Olivier Beretta setting a qualifying time outside 120 per cent of the fastest Porsche LMP1 – ended up one place below its sister car in the order, 1.5s back.

Klaus Bachler set the pace in the GTE Am class at 3m59.456s in the #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR, though was pictured moving slowly at the end of the session.

The GTE Am Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette C7.R also hit trouble, though in more severe fashion.

Giancluca Roda spun at the Porsche Curves and slammed into the concrete wall on the outside, the same place the #63 GTE Pro Corvette suffered its event-ending crash in qualifying.

WARM-UP RESULTS:

Audi 1-2-3 in Le Mans warm up: have they been sandbagging?