The shootout for pole position lasted no more than nine minutes, by which time all the front-running diesel-fuelled prototypes were back in the pits.

Davidson celebrated his return to racing after injury when his second flying lap produced a time of 1m7.428s to squeeze past team-mate Stéphane Sarrazin (N°8 Peugeot) who had figured briefly at the top. Peugeot was deprived of an all-908 front row, however, when Timo Bernhard’s fourth effort promoted him to within 0.128s of the pole-winning French car.

Soon afterwards, the leading cars were in the pits and, despite a final yet fruitless attempt by Sarrazin, that’s how the podium remained, with Capello rounding off the top four.

Anthony Davidson: “It’s my second pole at Petit Le Mans, so it’s good to be in that position for the race. Last year, my car went on to finish second, so this time I hope to go one better! It’s great to be forming a trio with Sébastien [Bourdais] and Simon [Pagenaud] for the very first time. I’m looking forward to the race.”

The best-placed petrol-engined LM P1 runner was the Rebellion’s N°12 Lola-Toyota (6^th) of Prost/Jani/Belicchi, while the fastest LMP2 car on the track this afternoon was the N°055 HPD ARX-01G of Tucker/Franchitti/Diaz.

There were 17 prototypes on the circuit for the final qualifying sequence, so the drivers had plenty of space to themselves before Saturday’s race when they will share Road Atlanta with more than 50 starters!

Anthony Davidson, Michelin, Petit Le Mans 2011, Peugeot 908, Prost, Rebellion Racing