Toyota Locks Out Front Row for Bahrain Decider

Toyota scored pole position for Saturday’s Bahrain FIA World Endurance Championship season finale in a boost to the Japanese marque’s chances of beating Porsche to the manufacturers’ title.

Brendon Hartley went 0.323 seconds clear of the field aboard the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid in Friday evening’s ten-minute Hyperpole session, with Nyck de Vries making it a front row lockout in the sister No. 7 machine.

De Vries had topped the opening part of qualifying, with Hartley only fourth, but the roles were reversed in the pole shootout, with Toyota reducing the deficit to Porsche in the manufacturers’ standings to nine points in the process.

A victory in Saturday’s eight-hour race would guarantee Toyota the crown no matter where the best of the factory Penske Porsche 963s finish.

Ferrari driver Antonio Giovinazzi was best of the rest as he took third in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, missing a spot on the front row by only 0.043 seconds.

Neel Jani was a surprise fourth in the customer Proton Competition Porsche, ahead of Antonio Fuoco in the No. 50 Ferrari in fifth.

Kevin Estre qualified the championship-leading No. 6 Porsche 963 sixth, 0.828 seconds off the pace. He and teammates Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor only need an ninth-place finish on Saturday to earn the drivers’ title.

Matt Campbell was seventh in the second of the Penske Porsches, while Norman Nato’s Hertz Team JOTA Porsche and the two BMW M Hybrid V8s of Dries Vanthoor and Robin Frijns made up the rest of the order in Hyperpole.

Cadillac failed to make the Hyperpole cut in the V-Series.R’s final outing in the hands of Chip Ganassi Racing, as Alex Lynn ended up 13th-fastest in first qualifying.

Alpine’s best qualifier was the No. 35 A424 of Ferdinand Habsburg in 14th, followed by Paul di Resta in the best of the Peugeot 9X8s and Daniil Kvyat’s Lamborghini SC63.

United Sweeps Front Row in LMGT3

The two United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos achieved a front row sweep in LMGT3 qualifying, with Josh Caygill delivering the team’s maiden pole with McLaren machinery and the second for the car following the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Caygill produced a lap of 2:02.201 in United’s No. 95 entry in Hyperpole, two-thousandths of a second faster than James Cottingham in the sister No. 59 McLaren.

Best of the rest was Francois Heriau in the No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, 0.166 seconds off the pace, followed by Sarah Bovy’s Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and the No. 92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Alex Malykhin.

Ian James seized the advantage in the battle for second in the LMGT3 standings by qualifying sixth in the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

The 8 Hours of Bahrain is set for 2 p.m. local time (7 a.m. EDT) on Saturday.

RESULTS: Qualifying