6H Fuji Qualifying: Pole for Toyota on home soil
Below are the main headlines from Qualifying at round 2 of FIA WEC Season 8, the 6 Hours of Fuji.
LMP1
- Toyota Gazoo Racing sweep to front row lock-out at home event as No.8 Toyota TS050 driven by Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley combine to set average of 1:25.013
- Japan’s Nakajima sets fastest lap of weekend so far on a 1:24.822, with a first pole for Hartley for Toyota
- No.7 Toyota of Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi start second with average time 0.817s behind pole-sitters
- No.1 Rebellion Racing entry driven by Norman Nato and Gustavo Menezes place third with average time of 1:26.163
- No. 6 Team LNT Ginetta car stopped on track in session’s closing stages dashing the British team’s hopes of third place as second driver Charlie Robertson was unable to complete a lap
LMGTE Pro
- In LMGTE Pro, the No. 91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 takes pole position
- Richard Lietz and team-mate Gianmaria Bruni combine to take best average lap time of 1:37.356 – a first pole for the new Porsche
- No.51 Ferrari of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi joins Porsche on front row as the pairing posts a combined time of 1:37.397
- Third in class is the No.95 Aston Martin Vantage of Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim, the latter setting the fastest lap of the GTE qualifying session, making it three manufacturers occupying the top three spots in Qualifying
LMP2
- LMP2 sees Jackie Chan DC Racing on pole as Gabriel Aubry and Ho-Pin Tung set an average time of 1:29.302 with Tung taking overall quickest lap of 1:29.175
- Chinese team 0.415 ahead of rivals United Autosports No. 22 ORECA 07 qualified by Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque
- No.38 JOTA ORECA will start third making it two cars in the top three using Goodyear’s new WEC tyres
LMGTE Am
- The No. 57 Team Project 1 car qualified on pole. However, following the session it was found that the car was technically not compliant resulting in deletion of all lap times. The team will now start from the back of the grid
- Round 1 pole-sitters TF Sport promoted to top spot in LMGTE Am following Jonny Adam’s time of 1:38.821 in the Aston Martin Vantage he shares with Salih Yoluc
- Joining TF Sport out front is the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo as Nicklas Nielsen and Emmanuel Collard clock a time of 1:38.850
- No. 98 Aston Martin Racing place third
Full results and times can be found HERE.
Tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Fuji will take place at 11h00 local time.
*All results still provisional.
