El porsche nº 20 aconsegueix batre els dos toyota que havien dut la pauta durants els dos entrenaments lliures previs
De la mà de Bernhard, Webber i Hartley el porsche 919 hybrid de l’equip porsche team marca el millor temps dels tercers lliures disputats al circuit de Xangai. D’aquesta manera trenquen el domini previ dels dos toyota ts-040 hybrid.
Molta humitat a l’ambient però sense pluja, s’ha pogut veure el potencial tant del porsche com del toyota ja que han estat els únics que han marcat la seva volta ràpida en 1.48. Per tant, s’espera veure una batalla per la pole position entre aquests dos equips.
Resultats:
| Pos. | Car | Category | Drivers | Car | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
| 1 | 20 | LMP1-H | Bernhard – Webber – Hartley | Porsche 919 Hybrid | Porsche Team | 20 | 1:48,173 | |
| 2 | 8 | LMP1-H | Davidson – Lapierre – Buemi | Toyota TS 040 – Hybrid | Toyota Racing | 23 | 1:48,417 | + 0,244 |
| 3 | 7 | LMP1-H | Wurz – Sarrazin – Conway | Toyota TS 040 – Hybrid | Toyota Racing | 24 | 1:48,859 | + 0,686 |
| 4 | 1 | LMP1-H | Di Grassi – Duval – Kristensen | Audi R18 e-tron quattro | Audi Sport Team Joest | 25 | 1:49,369 | + 1,196 |
| 5 | 14 | LMP1-H | Dumas – Jani – Lieb | Porsche 919 Hybrid | Porsche Team | 26 | 1:49,751 | + 1,578 |
| 6 | 2 | LMP1-H | Fässler – Lotterer – Treluyer | Audi R18 e-tron quattro | Audi Sport Team Joest | 23 | 1:50,147 | + 1,974 |
| 7 | 12 | LMP1-L | Prost – Heidfeld – Beche | Rebellion R-One – Toyota | Rebellion Racing | 17 | 1:51,942 | + 3,769 |
| 8 | 13 | LMP1-L | Kraihamer – Belicchi – Leimer | Rebellion R-One – Toyota | Rebellion Racing | 19 | 1:52,926 | + 4,753 |
| 9 | 26 | LMP2 | Rusinov – Pla – Canal | Ligier JS P2 – Nissan | G-Drive Racing | 21 | 1:55,050 | + 6,877 |
| 10 | 37 | LMP2 | Ladygin – Shaitar – Ladygin | Oreca 03R – Nissan | SMP Racing | 22 | 1:56,321 | + 8,148 |
| 11 | 47 | LMP2 | Howson – Bradley – Matsuda | Oreca 03 – Nissan | KCMG | 19 | 1:56,562 | + 8,389 |
| 12 | 27 | LMP2 | Zlobin – Minassian – Mediani | Oreca 03R – Nissan | SMP Racing | 23 | 1:56,603 | + 8,430 |
| 13 | 30 | LMP2 | Sharp – Dalziel – Gonzalez | HPD ARX 03B – Honda | Extreme Speed Motorsports | 16 | 1:56,873 | + 8,700 |
| 14 | 35 | LMP2 | Cheng – Tung – Patterson | Morgan – Judd | OAK Racing | 22 | 1:58,256 | + 10,083 |
| 15 | 31 | LMP2 | Van Overbeek – Brabham – Brown | HPD ARX 03B – Honda | Extreme Speed Motorsports | 18 | 1:58,667 | + 10,494 |
| 16 | 9 | LMP1-L | Bouchut – Rossiter – Auer | Lotus T129 – AER | Lotus | 20 | 1:59,024 | + 10,851 |
| 17 | 95 | GTE Am | Poulsen – Heinemeier-Hansson – Stanaway | Aston Martin Vantage V8 | Aston Martin Racing | 24 | 2:03,984 | + 15,811 |
| 18 | 97 | GTE Pro | Turner – Mücke | Aston Martin Vantage V8 | Aston Martin Racing | 21 | 2:04,331 | + 16,158 |
| 19 | 92 | GTE Pro | Makowiecki – Lietz | Porsche 911 RSR | Porsche Team Manthey | 23 | 2:04,474 | + 16,301 |
| 20 | 98 | GTE Am | Dalla Lana – Lamy – Nygaard | Aston Martin Vantage V8 | Aston Martin Racing | 20 | 2:04,697 | + 16,524 |
| 21 | 71 | GTE Pro | Rigon – Calado | Ferrari F458 Italia | AF Corse | 24 | 2:04,767 | + 16,594 |
| 22 | 51 | GTE Pro | Bruni – Vilander | Ferrari F458 Italia | AF Corse | 24 | 2:04,846 | + 16,673 |
| 23 | 91 | GTE Pro | Pilet – Bergmeister | Porsche 911 RSR | Porsche Team Manthey | 24 | 2:04,997 | + 16,824 |
| 24 | 99 | GTE Pro | MacDowall – O’Young – Rees | Aston Martin Vantage V8 | Aston Martin Racing | 23 | 2:05,222 | + 17,049 |
| 25 | 90 | GTE Am | Roda – Ruberti – Segal | Ferrari F458 Italia | 8 Star Motorsports | 21 | 2:05,317 | + 17,144 |
| 26 | 88 | GTE Am | Ried – Bachler – Al Qubaisi | Porsche 911 RSR | Proton Competition | 22 | 2:05,759 | + 17,586 |
| 27 | 75 | GTE Am | Perrodo – Collard – Vaxiviere | Porsche 911 RSR | Prospeed Competition | 21 | 2:06,593 | + 18,420 |