Porsche will start on pole for this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours after topping qualifying at the famous circuit in the Sarthe region of France on Thursday. The German manufacturer, seeking their first Le Mans title since 2017, put two Cadillacs in the shade to take the front of the grid in their number six car. French driver Kevin Estre was behind the wheel to secure pole for a race due to be started by French football icon Zinedine Zidane at 1400GMT on Saturday. Estre will share the driving with German Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor of Belgium. Second in Thursday’s ‘hyperpole’ qualifying session came Cadillac’s number two car with Earl Bamber of New Zealand, Briton Alex Lynn and Alex Palou of Spain sharing the wheel. But they were handed a five-place grid penalty later for provoking an accident at Spa-Francorchamps in May. That moved Cadillac’s number three car of another French driver Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande of the Netherlands and Kiwi Scott Dixon up to second. Ferrari, winners last year on their return to the event that attracts several hundred thousand diehard motor-racing fans every year, now start third and fourth. Alpine, with their Formula One driver Pierre Gasly watching on from the pits, are in fifth ahead of BMW and the demoted Cadillac.