Qualifying report
WEC Fuji
Fuji WEC: Toyota locks out front row in qualifying
Toyota locked out the top two positions in qualifying for this weekend's Fuji FIA World Endurance Championship round.
Gary Watkins Jamie Klein
Edited: Oct 5, 2019, 11:29 AM
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Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima set an average time of 1m25.013s to score pole in the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, almost eight tenths faster than their counterparts in the #7 car, Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi managed.
Nakajima set the fastest time of the session, a 1m24.822s, which Hartley followed with a 1m25.205s.
Lopez set a 1m25.639s on the opening runs before Kobayashi posted a 1m25.125s to leave them four tenths behind the sister car on aggregate.
But the Japanese driver lost his initial time to a track limits infringement and after that could only a manage a 1m25.968s give them a 1m25.803s average.
Rebellion ended up as best of the rest, with Gustavo Menezes and Norman Nato ending up 0.876s adrift on average times in the #1 R-13.
Ginetta's #5 entry was fourth, while the #6 car failed to set an average time after a spin for Charlie Robertson which brought out the red flags with three minutes to go.
LMP2 honours went to Ho-Pin Tung and Gabriel Aubry in the JOTA Sport-run Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07.
The United Autosports pairing of Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson jumped to second after Albuquerque went out for a second run after the red flag - pushing the the JOTA Sport Oreca shared by Anthony Davidson and Roberto Gonzalez down to third.
Nyck de Vries set the fastest time in the class aboard the TDS-run Racing Team Nederland Oreca which ended up seventh after Frits van Eerd's run.
Read Also:
- Toyota drivers baffled by Rebellion's qualifying pace
- Ginetta says it had pace for Fuji front row
- Keating Porsche thrown out of Fuji qualifying
GTE: Porsche beats Ferrari to pole
Porsche stole position in GTE Pro right at the end of the first qualifying period.
Gianmaria Bruni had been third-fastest in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR after the first runs on a 1m37.350s, before teammate Richard Lietz jumped to the top of the times in the second runs.
The Austrian found six tenths on his second lap to bring the #91 Porsche's average down to 1m37.356s and claim the pole.
The Porsche just edged out the AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE of Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado, which ended up with a time of 1m37.397s.
Pier Guidi's 1m37.292s put him second to Nicki Thiim's Aston Martin initially and James Calado looked to have done enough to secure the pole with a 1m37.503s after losing his first lap to a track limits violation.
Thiim's 1m37.178s, the fastest GTE Pro of the session, was followed by a 1m37.723s from Marco Sorensen, which gave them third place with a 1m37.466s average.
Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina took fourth spot in the second Ferrari with a 1m37.792s average., while Porsche pair Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen brought up the rear in GTE Pro behind the Aston of Maxime Martin and Alex Lynn.
Estre was slowest after the first runs and then Christensen spun on his first quick lap, the rear of the car sustaining minor damage.
GTE Am honours went to the Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR shared by Felipe Fraga and Ben Keating. Fraga was third after the first runs before driver Keating was quickest on the second runs to put the car on the class pole.
Their 1m38.733s average just edged out the TF Sport Aston Martin, which Jonny Adam and Salih Yoluc qualified with a 1m38.821s average.
Session results:
Cla Drivers Car Class Time Gap 1 Sébastien Buemi
Kazuki Nakajima
Brendon Hartley
Toyota TS050 Hybrid LMP1 1'25.013 2 Mike Conway
Kamui Kobayashi
Jose Maria Lopez
Toyota TS050 Hybrid LMP1 1'25.803 0.790 3 Bruno Senna
Gustavo Menezes
Norman Nato
Rebellion R13 LMP1 1'26.163 1.150 4 Luca Ghiotto
Ben Hanley
Egor Orudzhev
Ginetta G60-LT-P1 LMP1 1'26.820 1.807 5 Ho-Pin Tung
Gabriel Aubry
Will Stevens
Oreca 07 LMP2 1'29.302 4.289 6 Philip Hanson
Filipe Albuquerque
Oliver Jarvis
Oreca 07 LMP2 1'29.787 4.774 7 Roberto Gonzalez
Antonio Felix da Costa
Anthony Davidson
Oreca 07 LMP2 1'29.792 4.779 8 Mark Patterson
Kenta Yamashita
Anders Fjordbach
Oreca 07 LMP2 1'30.073 5.060 9 Nicolas Lapierre
Antonin Borga
Alexandre Coigny
Oreca 07 LMP2 1'30.087 5.074 10 Thomas Laurent
Andre Negrao
Pierre Ragues
Alpine A470 LMP2 1'30.858 5.845 11 Frits van Eerd
Giedo van der Garde
Nyck de Vries
Oreca 07 LMP2 1'30.935 5.922 12 Roberto Lacorte
Andrea Belicchi
Giorgio Sernagiotto
Dallara P217 LMP2 1'31.342 6.329 13 Gianmaria Bruni
Richard Lietz
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE PRO 1'37.356 12.343 14 James Calado
Alessandro Pier Guidi
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE PRO 1'37.397 12.384 15 Marco Sorensen
Nicki Thiim
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE PRO 1'37.466 12.453 16 Davide Rigon
Miguel Molina
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE PRO 1'37.792 12.779 17 Alex Lynn
Maxime Martin
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE PRO 1'37.820 12.807 18 Michael Christensen
Kevin Estre
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE PRO 1'37.935 12.922 19 Ben Keating
Felipe Fraga
Jeroen Bleekemolen
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 1'38.733 13.720 20 Salih Yoluc
Charles Eastwood
Jonathan Adam
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 1'38.821 13.808 21 François Perrodo
Emmanuel Collard
Nicklas Nielsen
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 1'38.850 13.837 22 Paul Dalla Lana
Darren Turner
Ross Gunn
Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 1'38.917 13.904 23 Egidio Perfetti
David Heinemeier Hansson
Matteo Cairoli
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 1'39.022 14.009 24 Satoshi Hoshino
Adrien de Leener
Thomas Preining
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 1'39.025 14.012 25 Thomas Flohr
Francesco Castellacci
Giancarlo Fisichella
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 1'39.291 14.278 26 Christian Ried
Riccardo Pera
Matt Campbell
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 1'39.549 14.536 27 Michael Wainwright
Andrew Watson
Benjamin Barker
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 1'39.610 14.597 28 Motoaki Ishikawa
Olivier Beretta
Kei Cozzolino
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 1'39.628 14.615 29 Bonamy Grimes
Johnny Mowlem
Charles Hollings
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 1'39.889 14.876 30 Charles Robertson
Michael Simpson
Guy Smith
Ginetta G60-LT-P1 LMP1 1'25.889 0.876 View full results
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