Porsche Team have been ahead of the LMP1 pack in every session so far this weekend. The most reason of their successes being a 1-2 finish in qualifying.
It will be the #2o Porsche of Webber, Bernhard and Hartley that will line up on pole position allongside the#14 sister car at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo. The #20 beat the #14 by just 0.1 of a second across the average times. Porsche are in turn 3 tenths clear of the third placed car. Row 2 will be the World Drivers Champions, Davidson and Buemi in their #8 Toyota alongside the #2 Audi. The #7 Toyota claimed fifth in class and will start line astern with the #1 Audi. It will be the #12 Rebellion starting ahead of the #13 car, with the Lotus CLM wrapping up the LMP1 order.
It was G-Drive that once again set the pace and this time claimed pole position in class as well to confirm themselves as firm favorites for the race. The KCMG ORECA bounced back from a lap-less FP3 to take second position ahead of both SMP Racing ORECA’S. More importanlty in championship terms, the #37 out qualified the #27 SMP car. With the two championship contenders topping and tailing the grid it really is all to play for at Interlagos for LMP2 glory.
In the earlier session for GTE cars it was Aston Martin that took honors in the GTE-PRO class. The #97 car of Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke got the class pole ahead of the #92 Porsche by one tenth of a second. Third place in class will be the #99 Aston Martin, which will also start alongside a Porsche, after the #91 car set the fourth fastest average time. The AF Corse Ferrari’s continue to struggle with Rigon and Calado starting fifth in class, while the sister car of Vilander and Bruni starts sixth. Although the Ferrari’s are only 8 tenths off of the class pole, they will have a lot of work to do tomorrow.
GTE-AM saw yet another pole for the #95 Aston Martin and a 1-2 for Aston Martin Racing. The #98 car was just 0.092 of a second behind the sister car in the battle for pole. In third place is the first of the Ferrari’s in class. The #81 car setting the pace ahead of the #61 car of Emerson Fittipaldi by two tenths. Finally it was the two Porsche’s, Prospeed and Proton Competition respectivly, at the back of the grid.
With the starting order set for tomorrows race in Brazil, all eyes are set on if Porsche can convert their 1 lap pace into their first win in over a decade in sportscars. They have came close previous in the season but this is their best chance to date to write history. Behind them, Tom Kristensen will be hoping to have a strong showing in his last ever race at professional level. In LMP2, well, you’d just be guessing if you were to predict a winner at this stage. One thing however is for sure, if the rest of the season is anything to go by, the LMP2 fight will not be over until the checkered flag falls.
Image 1: Car Writter
Image 2 & 3: FIA WEC