LMGTE Qualifying: Aston Martin and Ferrari on pole in the desert
Qualifying kicked off on schedule for the LMGTE Pro and Am classes, and competitors had 20 minutes in which to go for pole position, all the while under brilliant sunshine and an air temperature of 35oC.
There were no incidents to interrupt proceedings and it appeared you had to be on track right at the start of the session in order to get onto the front row. So it was in LMGTE Pro that Stefan Mücke was the first to set a reference time which he was subsequently able to improve upon, and no other competitor was able to match his lap of 2:00.234. That time will see the No.97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 of Mücke and Darren Turner start from pole position and, just as at the 6 Hours of São Paulo, they will have the No.77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 RSR of Richard Lietz and Marc Lieb alongside them on the front row. The Austrian ended up less than three tenths of a second behind pole, while Giancarlo Fisichella and No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia had to be content with third place, more than a second behind Mücke.
Stefan Mücke, No.97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8: “The Aston Martin is running really good here and the team did a great job. The track, which suits our car well, is very fast so I think everyone was a bit surprised about the lap times. The Porsche is very close, just a few tenths, behind us so it will be an interesting race tomorrow. We’ve finished a lot in second and third places so of course we hope for a win tomorrow.”
Rui Aguas marked his return to the FIA World Endurance Championship with a pole position for the No.61 AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari in the LMGTE Am class. The Portuguese driver had already shown his intent in the free practice sessions, and only confirmed that with a lap of 2:02.812. Behind him were Fernando Rees’s No.50 Larbre Compétition Corvette C6.R in second and Paolo Ruberti’s No.88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche in third, the three competitors all within less than a second of each other.
Rui Aguas, No.61 AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari 458 Italia: “I’m very pleased to take pole after being out of the car for a while. Everything went well, the car was good and I think the track was better today. We improved the car from Free Practice and I hope we can have a good race. I hope we can finish on the podium, I’m not sure if we are going to be fighting for the lead, but to be on the podium would be very nice."
The pole-position holders now have to attend a press conference while all the other drivers who took part in the session go to the “mixed zone” where they are available to the media for interview. They will then take their leave from the track, returning in good time for tomorrow’s warm up at 1225 hours.
Fiona Miller
Photo: SAKHIR (BAHRAIN), BAHRAIN INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, 6 HOURS OF BAHRAIN, FRIDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER 2012, QUALIFYING. Rui Aguas (left) of AF Corse-Waltrip and Stefan Mucke celebrate their class pole positions.