bigbadbrother
04-16-2016, 04:30 PM
John Dagys
Audi has swept the front row for Sunday's Six Hours of Silverstone, breaking Porsche's previous stranglehold in qualifying in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler ended on top of the 20-minute, drying qualifying session, combining for a best two-lap average of 1:53.204 in their No. 7 Audi R18.
Their combined time was 0.104 seconds quicker than teammates Loid Duval and Lucas Di Grassi.
Lotterer and Fassler's top qualifying effort broke Porsche's 11-race pole streak in WEC and marked the first pole for the German manufacturer since Fuji in 2013.
The 2013 World Champions will share the wheel of their new diesel-powered contender with Benoit Treluyer in Sunday's season-opener.
Porsche was relegated to third and fourth on the grid, with the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley only able to reel off a 1:54.150 average, which was nearly one-second slower than the Audi.
The sister Porsche 919 Hybrid, qualified by Neel Jani and Romain Dumas, was fourth, followed by the pair of Toyota TS050 Hybrids, which both battled boost issues in the session.
ByKolles Racing scored top qualifying honors in LMP1 Privateer, after at least one driver from each Rebellion R-One AER did not set laps in the 20-minute session.
A late flyer by Rene Rast, in drying conditions, saw G-Drive Racing score pole in the LMP2 class.
Rast and co-driver Roman Rusinov's average of 2:08.479 put the Jota Sport-run squad on pole in its full-season debut. They'll be joined at the wheel of the No. 26 Oreca 05 Nissan by Nathanael Berton on Sunday.
The No. 31 Tequila Patron ESM Ligier JS P2 Nissan qualified second, thanks to Pipo Derani and Chris Cumming's 2:09.632 average.
Derani, meanwhile, set the session's quickest single quickest lap, just 0.059 seconds quicker than Rast's best.
The No. 43 RGR Sport by Morand Ligier Nissan will start third in class, with the pair of SMP Racing BR Engineering BR01 Nissans completing the top-five in class.
AF Corse will start from the pole in GTE-Pro, following a rain-soaked qualifying session for the production-based cars.
Davide Rigon and Sam Bird, in his team debut, combined for a best two-lap average of 2:12.440 in their No. 71 Ferrari 488 GTE car.
It was 1.382 seconds clear from the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR of Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen, which qualified second in class.
An engine issue for the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari of Gianmaria Bruni, which had been on provisional pole thanks to James Calado’s 2:11.589 lap, prevented Bruni from setting a time and as a result will start at the rear of the field on Sunday.
The No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT of Olivier Pla and Stefan Muecke qualified third in class with a 2:14.475 average, despite an off-course excursion for the Frenchman in the closing minutes of the 20-minute session.
While the No. 67 Ford was fourth, neither of the Aston Martin Racing entries set representative times in the wet session and will start behind the majority of the GTE-Am competitors.
Abu Dhabi Proton Racing took the pole in GTE-Am, with Klaus Bachler and Khaled Al Qubaisi combining for a 2:15.102 average in their No. 88 Porsche 911 RSR.
The time was more than two seconds quicker than the sister, KCMG-backed Porsche of Wolf Henzler and Christian Ried in second.
Bachler, who is subbing for Porsche factory driver Patrick Long this weekend, and Al Qubaisi will share driving duties tomorrow with former class champion David Heinemeier Hansson.
The No. 50 Larbre Competition Corvette C7.R will start third in class.
The Six Hours of Silverstone gets underway Sunday at 12 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET), LIVE on FS1 then switches to FS2 at 9 a.m. ET
Audi has swept the front row for Sunday's Six Hours of Silverstone, breaking Porsche's previous stranglehold in qualifying in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler ended on top of the 20-minute, drying qualifying session, combining for a best two-lap average of 1:53.204 in their No. 7 Audi R18.
Their combined time was 0.104 seconds quicker than teammates Loid Duval and Lucas Di Grassi.
Lotterer and Fassler's top qualifying effort broke Porsche's 11-race pole streak in WEC and marked the first pole for the German manufacturer since Fuji in 2013.
The 2013 World Champions will share the wheel of their new diesel-powered contender with Benoit Treluyer in Sunday's season-opener.
Porsche was relegated to third and fourth on the grid, with the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley only able to reel off a 1:54.150 average, which was nearly one-second slower than the Audi.
The sister Porsche 919 Hybrid, qualified by Neel Jani and Romain Dumas, was fourth, followed by the pair of Toyota TS050 Hybrids, which both battled boost issues in the session.
ByKolles Racing scored top qualifying honors in LMP1 Privateer, after at least one driver from each Rebellion R-One AER did not set laps in the 20-minute session.
A late flyer by Rene Rast, in drying conditions, saw G-Drive Racing score pole in the LMP2 class.
Rast and co-driver Roman Rusinov's average of 2:08.479 put the Jota Sport-run squad on pole in its full-season debut. They'll be joined at the wheel of the No. 26 Oreca 05 Nissan by Nathanael Berton on Sunday.
The No. 31 Tequila Patron ESM Ligier JS P2 Nissan qualified second, thanks to Pipo Derani and Chris Cumming's 2:09.632 average.
Derani, meanwhile, set the session's quickest single quickest lap, just 0.059 seconds quicker than Rast's best.
The No. 43 RGR Sport by Morand Ligier Nissan will start third in class, with the pair of SMP Racing BR Engineering BR01 Nissans completing the top-five in class.
AF Corse will start from the pole in GTE-Pro, following a rain-soaked qualifying session for the production-based cars.
Davide Rigon and Sam Bird, in his team debut, combined for a best two-lap average of 2:12.440 in their No. 71 Ferrari 488 GTE car.
It was 1.382 seconds clear from the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR of Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen, which qualified second in class.
An engine issue for the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari of Gianmaria Bruni, which had been on provisional pole thanks to James Calado’s 2:11.589 lap, prevented Bruni from setting a time and as a result will start at the rear of the field on Sunday.
The No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT of Olivier Pla and Stefan Muecke qualified third in class with a 2:14.475 average, despite an off-course excursion for the Frenchman in the closing minutes of the 20-minute session.
While the No. 67 Ford was fourth, neither of the Aston Martin Racing entries set representative times in the wet session and will start behind the majority of the GTE-Am competitors.
Abu Dhabi Proton Racing took the pole in GTE-Am, with Klaus Bachler and Khaled Al Qubaisi combining for a 2:15.102 average in their No. 88 Porsche 911 RSR.
The time was more than two seconds quicker than the sister, KCMG-backed Porsche of Wolf Henzler and Christian Ried in second.
Bachler, who is subbing for Porsche factory driver Patrick Long this weekend, and Al Qubaisi will share driving duties tomorrow with former class champion David Heinemeier Hansson.
The No. 50 Larbre Competition Corvette C7.R will start third in class.
The Six Hours of Silverstone gets underway Sunday at 12 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET), LIVE on FS1 then switches to FS2 at 9 a.m. ET