AF Corse Sweeps GTE-Pro Qualifying at Shanghai

AF Corse locked out the front row in Qualifying in GTE-Pro for the FIA WEC Six Hours of Shanghai, as Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni put the No. 51 Ferrari 458 Italia on pole.

Vilander and Bruni combined for a best two-lap average of 2:02.243, outpacing teammates James Calado and Davide Rigon, currently second in the standings, by 0.265 seconds.

Following the Nürburgring and Fuji rounds, Shanghai marks the third time this season AF Corse delivered a 1-2 in qualifying.

Fernando Rees was briefly able to split both Ferraris in the No. 99 Aston Martin Vantage V8 he qualified together with Alex MacDowall, but was eventually relegated back to third by only 0.032s.

The pair of Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSRs ended up in fourth and fifth, with championship leader Ricahrd Lietz not being able to do better than fifth (+1.109s) in the No. 91 Porsche.

Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana secured the fastest time in GTE-Am with a last-minute dash, giving the No. 98 Aston Martin its fourth class pole of the season.

Lamy and Dalla Lana’s average of 2:03.484 was one tenth quicker than Liam Girffin and Stuart Hall in the sister No. 96 AMR Car, which was second.

The FIA WEC Six Hours of Fuji gets underway Sunday at 11 a.m. local time (Saturday, 11 p.m. ET).

RESULTS: Qualifying