The new FIA WEC qualifying format produced an exciting 30-minute qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps with the nr1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Marcel Fassler and Andre Lotterer producing an average time of 1m59.961 over the four best laps for each driver to take pole position ahead of the nr3 Audi of Lucas Di Grassi and Marc Gene and the nr2 Audi of Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish.
The nr41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan of Chris Dyson crashed heavily on the exit of Rivage to bring out the red flags after just six minutes. The American was OK but the car was stranded in a unsafe position.
At the restart it was the Audis that took control with the two Toyotas unable to get on terms with their rivals and at the chequered flag it was the nr7 TS030 of Alex Wurz and Kazuki Nakajima in 4th, 0.9 seconds adrift of the pole time, with teammates Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi in the 2012 spec nr8 Toyota in 5th a further three tenths slower.
The nr12 Rebellion Lola Toyota of Nick Heidfeld and Neel Jani finished at the head of the LMP1 Privateer field in 6th overall, with an average time of 2m01.482. Jani and Heidfeld were 1.8 seconds ahead of their teammates in the nr13 Lola Toyota and a further half a second ahead of the all British Strakka Racing HPD-Honda.
The LMP2 class was fought out between the nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca-Nissan of Pierre Kaffer and Nicolas Minassian and the nr38 Jota Zytek-Nissan of Oliver Turvey and Lucas Luhr. At the chequered flag it was the Argentinian team who got the upperhand to take the class pole in a time of 2m08.540, just 0.4 seconds ahead of the Jota Zytek. Oak Racing claimed P3 and P4 with their Nissan powered Morgans ahead of Silverstone winners Delta ADR.
Marcel Fässler (No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro):“My laps worked out pretty well. On average, we were the quickest trio. A big ‘thank you’ to Audi Sport Team Joest for making such a strong effort to support us by working long hours. The fastest time is our way of reciprocating for their superb work, and a good starting base for Saturday.”
André Lotterer (No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro): “A fantastic result! Qualifying alongside Marcel Fässler was great fun. He was brilliant, I made an effort, the car was superb. Benoît Tréluyer is in good shape as well. I’m hoping for things to continue this way for Audi.”
Benoît Tréluyer (No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro): “That was a good qualifying session and the whole squad did a thorough job – the engineers, the mechanics and us drivers. Our Audi R18 e-tron quattro was well balanced in all practice sessions. With two free practice sessions plus qualifying on a single day we had to carefully organize our work. The result is nice for all of us.”
Neel Jani (No.12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota): “We are happy with our result of today. We are the best privateer on the grid and that was what we were targeting. More would only have been a bonus. For the race, we are close enough to the factory cars to benefit from the situation if something should happen with them. ”
Nick Heidfeld (No.12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota): “ It has been a very good day for us. We toped our class in each of the 3 sessions of the day. We were very close in the practice sessions to the factory cars. I'm sure that I would have improved my best laptime if I hadn't been slowed by an LMP2 car on my last flying lap, but I'm happy with the position we are today. We are developing the car and we are getting the harvest from our efforts.”
Nicolas Minassian (No.49 Pecom Racing ORECA 03-Nissan): "We finally proved ourselves in qualifying! It’s been a while since I got a pole position and it’s of course a pleasure. We were able to find the right setup with the new Michelin tires, which are a real advantage. At Silverstone, we started further back in the field, and we saw how it raised our chances of being involved in an accident. It’s good to be starting from the front. The ORECA 03 is always fast, and it’s a reliable car. With Pierre and Luis, we worked well during the practice sessions. We finally proved ourselves in qualifying after being so competitive in the races. It’s good for the whole team."
Pierre Kaffer (No.49 Pecom Racing ORECA 03-Nissan): "I’m very happy with this pole. It’s a nice reward for the team, who have always worked so hard. The LMP2 category is more and more competitive and we’re expecting a hard battle. Like Nicolas said, it’s positive to start from the first row. Five or six can win, but our objective will be to take the spoils!"
There will be a 20 minute warm up session at 09:00 tomorrow morning with the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps getting underway at 14:30.
Full results can all be found HERE
Photo: SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS CIRCUIT (SPA, BELGIUM), WEC 6 HOURS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, QUALIFYING, FRIDAY, 3RD MAY 2013. The No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Lotterer-Fassler-Treluyer will start from pole position for the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
