Brendon Hartley – No.1 Porsche Team - Pole position
“It was a really tight qualifying, as they have been all season. Initially it was a good start and we were at the front and I made a mistake at the last corner and it wasn’t an advantage as I took the inside kerb and I went a few centimetres off the road. We managed to recover and Mark did an awesome lap and the team has done a good job all weekend.”
Kazuki Nakajima– No.5 Toyota Gazoo Racing - 2nd overall
“We had quite a difficult time in free practice but, working together with the sister car, we improved the set-up and I was happy with the car in qualifying. Race balance is of course different to qualifying so we will work hard to extract the best performance on Sunday. I am quite hopeful for the race as we are on a similar pace to the others. The key will be consistency.”
Oliver Jarvis – No.8 Audi Sport Team Joest - 3rd overall
“Position one would have been possible today if Loïc had caught a clear lap. That I got into the car again at the end, and set a better time than at the beginning, was the right decision because every tenth matters here.”
Alexandre Imperatori – No.13 Rebellion Racing - 1st LMP1 Private Teams
“We have been struggling with our balance a little throughout the weekend but we made some changes to the car which has helped a lot and the grip improved. Overall I had clean laps and then Dodo (Kraihamer) went in the car and did a great lap which was enough to put us on pole and we will see tomorrow how it goes in the race.”
Matt Rao – No.44 Manor - Pole LMP2
“It is our first season in the WEC and we have had some ups and some downs. We haven’t always had the fastest race car on a Saturday but we have usually been up there on the Sunday. It is great to get our first pole in our first season and I think we will have a really close race again tomorrow.”
Harry Tincknell – No.67 Ford Ganassi Team UK - Pole LMGTE Pro
“Back in the summer I was starting to wonder what I had to do to get back on the podium and had almost forgotten how to open a bottle of champagne but now I’m riding the crest of a wave!
"We were struggling a bit yesterday, almost a second and half off the pace. It was our first time at this track but we knew there was more to it than that so everyone has worked hard overnight. Andy and me have been studying the video and the data, the boys have been over the car with a fine toothcomb and the engineers have made set up adjustments.
"We went into qualifying hoping for the best but not expecting pole and I have to say the unexpected ones feel great. It’s going to be an interesting race tomorrow. It’s all well and good doing a quick lap in qualifying but it’s all going to be won and lost in the second half of the race stints when the tyres start to go off. But we’re definitely starting from the best place.”
Olivier Pla: No.66 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford - 2nd LMGTE Pro
“It was a very close session with not even a tenth of a second between myself and Harry. I made a little mistake on my fastest lap, under braking for turn six. This is a great result for the team though. We had pole at Fuji and the other car won the race so maybe this time with them on pole it could be our turn for the win!”
Paul Dalla Lana: No.98 Aston Martin Racing - Pole LMGTE Am
“We have a big deficit to make up on the (No.83) Ferrari and I made it a little harder for myself with the penalty (for track limits) but we came back and got the job done. Pedro was great as ever and the team are performing to their usual standard so I think we can look forward to a good race this weekend.”
