Porsche powers to 1-2-3 in Spa qualifying

The #17 Porsche 919 leads a top three sweep-out for the German maker in a mega Spa qualifying effort

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 o Stefan Bellof, flanked by Mark Webber 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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