Vanthoor Feels Kvyat Incident Cost BMW Pole Shot

BMW driver Dries Vanthoor believes a near-coming together with the Lamborghini of Daniil Kvyat cost the German manufacturer a genuine chance of a first FIA World Endurance Championship pole position in qualifying at Fuji.

Vanthoor put the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 third on the grid for Sunday’s penultimate round of the season in Japan, falling just 0.158 seconds shy of the pole benchmark set by Alex Lynn’s Cadillac in Hyperpole.

However, the Belgian driver believes that the deficit can be accounted for by an on-track episode with Kvyat’s Lamborghini SC63 as the pair entered the long Turn 4 right-hander, which he estimates cost him two tenths.

While satisfied to score BMW’s best qualifying result yet in the WEC, Vanthoor was left to wonder what could have been in other circumstances.

“It was just a wrong moment, wrong time, and [Kvyat] took the wrong side,” said Vanthoor. “I just had to lift and I lost two tenths by lifting and making sure I wouldn’t crash into him.

“It’s always easy to say in hindsight what would have happened without losing the two tenths. It was a good lap, and we can be very happy with P3. But knowing also that P1 or at least the front row, was possible, is for sure a pity.”

Vanthoor added that having to do an extra lap after being blocked meant that his rear tires “were not so nice anymore” on his final attempt.

Both Vanthoor and Kvyat visited the stewards, but no further action was taken.

Speaking before the verdict, Vanthoor stressed the importance of consistent decision-making by the stewards.

“It’s important for me that we are strict on these rules because if we start impeding everybody, it will become a mess,” said Vanthoor.

“It’s sad, it’s annoying. I’m just more annoyed, and pushing the FIA to stick to the rules and to be consistent with them.”

For his part, Kvyat believes he did nothing wrong in the incident after qualifying ninth, marking by far Lamborghini’s best qualifying showing of the season.

“I did my best to get out of the way,” recalled Kvyat. “Everything was ok from my side.

“Somebody else might have different feelings, but that’s life.”

Kvyat Admits First Lamborghini Hyperpole “Unexpected”

Kvyat beat several more fancied runners in the first segment of qualifying on Saturday to book Lamborghini’s first Hyperpole spot with the SC63, including two of the AF Corse Ferrari 499Ps and the second of the BMWs.

He then outpaced Julien Andlauer’s Proton Competition Porsche in Hyperpole to line up ninth for Sunday’s Fuji race.

“It’s great to tick that box,” said Kvyat of making Hyperpole. “We managed to do a tidy job in the free practice sessions to understand which direction to take with the car, and everything seemed to click well enough to be top ten, even if it was slightly unexpected.

“Yesterday if you told me we would be in Hyperpole, I would have laughed at you!

“It’s a positive surprise, but there is still a lot of work to do because there have not been a lot of changes [to the car].”

Pressed for further explanation of Lamborghini’s uplift in form, Kvyat replied: “Somehow our car has a very narrow window and it seems like things clicked better here. I was able to push through the lap quite well and put a good lap together in both sessions.

“I hope this is a motivation boost for everyone in the team. The car is very raw still. Imagine what will happen when we start bringing the pieces [to the car] we need.”