Porsche and Ferrari Steal The Show For WEC Qualifying

The first qualifying back after the summer break served to be the usual fighting ground in the LMP qualifying, but Ferrari bested the usually quick Aston Martins in LMGTE. Which a new and improved car revealed this weekend all eyes were on AF Corse during the LMGTE qualifying as they drove the circuit like they were made specifically for the circuit. The LMP qualifying saw Porsche run away from the field, bringing the scrap for overall pole between themselves. It was the fight for LMP2 pole that became the most nerve-wracking as with only two minutes left improvements were still being made. In the end it was Porsche’s Romain Dumas in car 18 that took LMP1 and overall pole, Nick Tandy in the 47 KCMG car for LMP2 pole, Gianmaria Bruni in AF Corse’s car 51 for LMGTE Pro, and SMP Racing car 72 (who also rung the Ferrari F458 Italia) driven by Alexey Basov.

LMGTE qualifying was an all Ferrari affair. Aston Martin came out and set the pace in the early stages, with car number 95 looking set on taking the LMGTE Pro pole, setting the fastest lap in the first flying laps for the teams. However, after the driver’s changed over around the ten minute mark the AF Corse teams came out fighting and shot to the top of the timing sheets. It became a shoot out between car 51 and 71 as to who would take pole but with a second flying lap time only five thousands of a second faster car 51 took the better average, claiming the pole and the pole position point to further the team’s lead over their teammates in the championship battle. Aston Martin #95 qualified third in class, with a final lap time two tenths off the pace of the Ferrari’s. Lietz in the #91 Porsche took too much speed into the final chicane on his flyer, spinning the car around and ruining his lap and chances of qualifying higher. He ended fifth in class.

In LMGTE Am, Basov set his lap half a second quicker than second-place qualifiers Aston Martin with car #98. The Am drivers had a much more messy session that the Pro drivers, with most of the cars that span off the track (99 and 83) being from this class. Car 98, at the time piloted by Dalla Lana, ran out of fuel with ninety seconds left in the session. The team still managed to qualify second in class but he brought out the yellow flags, ruining anyone else’s chances of improving on their final times. Car #77, the Dempsey – Proton Racing cars, was put under investigation. This could have been for exceeding track limits because the race directors had said at the beginning of the session that they would be keeping a close eye on anyone who exceeded the limits of the narrow circuit during qualifying. When this report was published there was no further knowledge about why the car was under investigation or if anything had come from the investigation. Car #77 had qualified third in class.

Porsche stormed off with the pace in the LMP qualifying, leaving the rest of the pack a second behind. They pitted both cars early and held them on pit lane to try and gain some clear track for their final runs, with Mark Webber and Romain Dumas taking over cars #17 and #18 respectively. But despite their efforts the Porsches still got caught up in the slower moving LMP2 cars. Webber tried to take the pole spot from the sister car, being the only car on track with the pace to even challenge for the first slot on the grid, but it was to no avail. Only 0.069 seconds separated the two when Webber crossed the line but it was Car 18’s moment when the chequered flag dropped. Audi number 8 took third place, a second adrift of the two Porsches, in the hands of Luca De Grassi. The Toyotas, again, seemed to be nowhere close to the Porsches or the Audi’s, a further second adrift of the third-placed car. They will be hoping that their race pace is better as they try to challenge for more points tomorrow. The Rebellion cars followed in formation, with Nicolas Prost at the wheel of number 12, and Trummer brought the Team Bykolles #4 back to complete the LMP1 standings.

LMP2 put up a much more exciting show, with class championship-leaders KCMG fighting both the G-Drive Racing cars for the in-class pole position. Most of the LMP1 cars pitted with just less than two minutes left, leaving the track mainly to the LMP2 cars, so it became a shoot out between cars 26, 28 and 47. Nick Tandy in car 47 had provisional pole as they went into the shoot out, but neither of the G-Drive cars had any response to Tandy going eight tenths up on average. Tandy set a faster lap than Sam Bird by four tenths of a second, with the other G-Drive Racing car, at the hands of Panciatici, seven tenths down on the sister car. The Strakka Racing car 42 had set the early pace of the session but couldn’t improve as much as the others, dropping down to qualify sixth in class.

With Porsche yet to convert a pole position into a race win this season the biggest question is can car 18 finally do just that? Or will the sister Porsche be looking for it’s maiden win this weekend? The Audi’s set the pace yesterday, but the day belonged to Porsche today as they achieved one-two in both free practice this morning and qualifying this afternoon. Can KCMG extend their championship lead ot will the G-Drive Racing cars take the points tomorrow? And can the new-and-improved Ferraris hold off the attack from the quick Aston Martins? Or will the pace today simply be quick one-lap pace? All will be answered tomorrow when the six hours of the Nürburgring drops the chequered flag at 1:00pm local time. Join us here for hour-by-hour reports to see the race unfold.

(images: www.fiawec.com)

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