Connect with us

FIA WEC

Porsche on Pole for 6H Shanghai

Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber take Porsche to pole…

Photo: Porsche

Photo: Porsche

Porsche has again locked out the front row, with FIA World Endurance Championship leaders Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley taking a crucial pole for Sunday’s Six Hours of Shanghai.

The pairing in the No. 17 Porsche 919 Hybrid combined for a best two-lap average of 1:42.719, outpacing teammates Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas by a considerable 0.769 seconds.

It marked Webber, Hartley and co-driver Timo Bernhard’s fourth pole of the year, with the trio scoring an additional point in the title race to extend their championship lead to two points over the drivers of the No. 7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro.

Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb qualified the No. 18 Porsche, fresh from an engine change following FP3, in second, ahead of the No. 8 Audi of Lucas Di Grassi and Loic Duval, who put in a 1:44.200 average.

Championship contenders Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer were a distant fourth, nearly two seconds behind the pole-sitting Porsche.

The pair of Toyota TS040 Hybrids will roll off the grid in fifth and sixth, respectively, ahead of the LMP1 Privateer pole-sitting No. 13 Rebellion R-One AER of Dominik Kraihamer and Alexandre Imperatori.

G-Drive Racing scored its third consecutive pole in LMP2, rebounding from an accident for their No. 26 Ligier JS P2 Nissan in FP3.

Sam Bird and Julien Canal put the car on top of the time sheets with a 1:52.763 average, outpacing championship rival KCMG by 0.582 seconds.

The pole for Bird, Canal and co-driver Roman Rusinov puts them with a 13-point lead over KCMG’s Richard Bradley and Matt Howson heading into tomorrow’s penultimate race of the season.

G-Drive’s sister Ligier, qualified by Pipo Derani and Ricardo Gonzalez were third, with the Morand Racing Morgan Judd and Signatech Alpine A450b Nissan completing the top-five in class.

The Six Hours of Shanghai gets underway Sunday at 11 a.m. local (Saturday, 11 p.m. ET).

RESULTS: Qualifying

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

Click to comment
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

More in FIA WEC