The #17 Porsche 919 leads a top three sweep-out for the German maker in a mega Spa qualifying effort
Porsche has completed a stunning shut-out of qualifying for the Spa 6 Hours by claiming the top three positions at the second round of the World Endurance Championship.
Weissach’s stranglehold at the front of the grid was headed by the #17 919 Hybrid of Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.
Timo Bernhard, wearing a helmet paying tribute to Stefan Bellof, is flanked by Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley
The pair achieved a record two-lap average of 1:54.767s in the machine they share with Australian Mark Webber.
In a big shock, the freshly entered third #19 Porsche LMP1 saw F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg and Nick Tandy fall just .2s short of claiming pole on debut in the car they share with Kiwi Earl Bamber.
Neel Jani and Marc Lieb qualified third in the #18 919 which is also crewed by Romain Dumas.
Fritz Enzinger, Porsche LMP1 program vice president, summed up the feeling in the camp after the decision to stretch its resources by adding a third car in preparation for a potential 17th outright victory at Le Mans next month.
“This result is almost unbelievable and we have achieved it on what probably is the most demanding race track of the entire season,” Enzinger said.
Talented Kiwi Hartley admitted he was at one with the 919 which is now operating in the highest energy class, 8 megajoules.
“For me my lap was the best I have ever done in the 919. The car was just excellent and every session has gone smoothly for us so far,” Hartley said.
Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler will start on the outside of the second row in the #7 Audi after seeing an average qualifying lap pace of 1:55.540s.
The sister R18 e-tron of Lucas di Grassi and Loic Duval was fifth ahead of the #1 Toyota TS040 of Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi.
In LMP2, the #26 G-Drive of Roman Rusinov, Sam Bird and Julien Canal topped the class.
Aston Martin Racing will start from pole in the GTE classes with the #99 and #98 Vantage topping the Pro and Am sections.
See below full Spa 6 Hours grid
Pos
Class
Driver
Team
Car
Time
Gap
1
LMP1
T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley
Porsche Team
Porsche
1:54.767s
–
2
LMP1
N.Hulkenberg, E.Bamber, N.Tandy
Porsche Team
Porsche
1:55.025s
0.258s
3
LMP1
R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb
Porsche Team
Porsche
1:55.284s
0.517s
4
LMP1
M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer
Audi Sport Team Joest
Audi
1:55.540s
0.773s
5
LMP1
L.di Grassi, L.Duval, O.Jarvis
Audi Sport Team Joest
Audi
1:56.541s
1.774s
6
LMP1
A.Davidson, S.Buemi
Toyota Racing
Toyota
1:57.487s
2.720s
7
LMP1
A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway
Toyota Racing
Toyota
1:57.929s
3.162s
8
LMP1
F.Albuquerque, M.Bonanomi, R.Rast
Audi Sport Team Joest
Audi
1:58.000s
3.233s
9
LMP1
S.Trummer, V.Liuzzi, C.Klien
Team ByKolles
CLM/AER
2:07.286s
12.519s
10
LMP2
R.Rusinov, J.Canal, S.Bird
G-Drive Racing
Ligier/Nissan
2:07.761s
–
11
LMP2
M.Howson, R.Bradley, N.Lapierre
KCMG
ORECA/Nissan
2:07.970s
–
12
LMP2
P.Ragues, O.Webb, Z.Amberg
Team SARD Morand
Morgan/SARD
2:08.055s
–
13
LMP2
G.Yacaman, L.Derani, R.Gonzalez
G-Drive Racing
Ligier/Nissan
2:08.258s
–
14
LMP2
S.Dolan, M.Evans, H.Tincknell
JOTA Sport
Gibson/Nissan
2:08.329s
–
15
LMP2
N.Panciatici, P-L.Chatin, V.Capillaire
Signatech Alpine
Alpine/Nissan
2:08.901s
–
16
LMP2
S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, D.Hansson
Extreme Speed Motorsports
Ligier/HPD
2:09.989s
–
17
LMP2
N.Leventis, D.Watts, J.Kane
Strakka Racing
Dome/Nissan
2:11.655s
–
18
LMP2
E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, J.Fogarty
Extreme Speed Motorsports
Ligier/HPD
2:16.721s
–
19
GTE Pro
A.MacDowall, F.Rees, R.Stanaway
Aston Martin Racing V8
Aston Martin
2:16.840s
–
20
GTE Pro
G.Bruni, T.Vilander
AF Corse
Ferrari
2:16.910s
–
21
GTE Pro
D.Turner, S.Mucke, R.Bell
Aston Martin Racing
Aston Martin
2:17.231s
–
22
GTE Pro
D.Rigon, J.Calado
AF Corse
Ferrari
2:17.526s
–
23
GTE Pro
C.Nygaard, M.Sorensen, J.Adam
Aston Martin Racing
Aston Martin
2:17.757s
–
24
GTE Pro
S.Muller, K.Estre
Porsche Team Manthey
Porsche
2:18.025s
–
25
GTE Pro
F.Makowiecki, R.Lietz
Porsche Team Manthey
Porsche
2:18.038s
–
26
LMP2
J.Nicolet, J-M.Merlin, E.Maris
Oak Racing
Ligier/Nissan
2:18.487s
–
27
GTE Am
P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda
Aston Martin Racing
Aston Martin
2m19.578s
–
28
GTE Am
G.Roda, P.Ruberti, K.Poulsen
Larbre Competition
Chevrolet
2:20.694s
–
29
GTE Am
C.Ried, K.Al Qubaisi, K.Bachler
Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing
Porsche
2:21.432s
–
30
GTE Am
D.Cameron, M.Griffin, A.Mortimer
AF Corse
Ferrari
2:21.893s
–
31
GTE Am
F.Perrodo, E.Collard, R.Aguas
AF Corse
Ferrari
2:21.958s
–
32
GTE Am
V.Shaitar, A.Bertolini, A.Basov
SMP Racing
Ferrari
2:22.909s
–
33
GTE Am
P.Dempsey, P.Long, M.Seefried
Dempsey-Proton Racing
Porsche
2:23.303s
–
34
GTE Am
F.Castellacci, R.Goethe, S.Hall
Aston Martin Racing
Aston Martin
2:24.519s
–
See below qualifying highlights video
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