Qualifying report
WEC Silverstone
Pole position for Audi in Silverstone !
Both Audi R18 sports cars on front row at season opener.
Edited: Apr 17, 2016, 7:58 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Audi has established the best starting base for itself for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season opener in Silverstone. Car number “7” of Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (CH/D/F) set the fastest time, trailed by Lucas di Grassi/Loïc Duval/Oliver Jarvis (BR/F/GB) in number “8” with a gap of just one tenth of a second. For Audi, it has been the twelfth occasion of setting the fastest time in the FIA WEC which has been held since 2012.
Snow in the morning and a stopped third free practice, wet tarmac and a track temperature of six degrees centigrade around noon: the conditions for the first qualifying session in the 2016 season were anything but ideal. Still, Audi scored the first point of the season for setting the best time in the final qualifying session at Silverstone in the UK. “Congratulations to our driver squads and to the team on today’s performance,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Our team perfectly prepared the cars and our drivers made the best of these challenging conditions.”
André Lotterer on rain tires initially took the top spot. “We had no idea what to expect. But we made the right decisions and were fast enough,” said the German. Subsequently, Marcel Fässler took over the number “7” hybrid sports car. “Qualifying was fun. The car gave us very good feedback. ‘Thank you’ to the team that’s been putting in a lot of long and hard hours lately,” said the Swiss. Loïc Duval in the sister car was similarly fast in spite of initially having been slowed by some rivals. “Unfortunately, I didn’t find a clear lap in the beginning and afterwards the tires were a little worn,” said the Frenchman. Lucas di Grassi in car number “8” subsequently battled for position one up to the last lap. “We nearly made it, but we can be happy this way as well. Our race car feels well balanced,” the Brazilian said.
On Sunday, the hybrid sports car featuring a new design and delivering some 1,000 hp of system output will have to prove its potential across the distance of a six-hour race. The first of nine FIA WEC rounds will start at 12:00 local time (13:00 CEST) on April 17. The race decision can be watched on Eurosport in a live 130-minute television broadcast starting at 17:00 CEST.
Audi
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Porsche “still the favourites” for Silverstone win – Lotterer
Next article Silverstone: Second row on the grid for the two Porsche 919 Hybrids
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Marcel Fassler
Three-time Le Mans winner Fassler retires from racing
WEC
WEC
Three-time Le Mans winner Fassler retires from racing
New Corvette C8.R needs work to catch Porsche, say drivers
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona 24
New Corvette C8.R needs work to catch Porsche, say drivers
Garcia, Gavin uncertain of Corvette C8.R’s Daytona prospects
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona 24
Garcia, Gavin uncertain of Corvette C8.R’s Daytona prospects
More from
Team Joest
The epic finale to the Le Mans 'diesel wars' - 10 years on
WEC
WEC
The epic finale to the Le Mans 'diesel wars' - 10 years on
Mazda announces IMSA line-ups for 2020 season
IMSA
IMSA
Mazda announces IMSA line-ups for 2020 season
Hunter-Reay set to race for Mazda in Rolex 24
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona 24
Hunter-Reay set to race for Mazda in Rolex 24
Latest news
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. explains why he lost Talladega Cup race
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
10 min
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. explains why he lost Talladega Cup race
Denny Hamlin blasts Next Gen as "sports car not meant to be running 200mph”
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
41 min
Denny Hamlin blasts Next Gen as "sports car not meant to be running 200mph”
Ryan Preece on RFK nearly lapping the field: "You'll never see that again"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
1 h
Ryan Preece on RFK nearly lapping the field: "You'll never see that again"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe