By alley - Jul 15, 2017, 11:09 AM ET

Lopez wins Nurburgring pole for Toyota

Toyota Gazoo Racing is set to start tomorrow's FIA WEC 6 Hours of Nurburgring from pole position, after Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi set a combined time of 1m38.118s in qualifying in the No. 7 Toyota TS050 HYBRID.

Lopez, starting his first qualifying with the team, was ecstatic to have helped score the team its third pole of the 2017 season.

"I'm really happy – team did a fantastic job, congratulations to Toyota, and Kamui," Lopez said after the session. "It's a long race, but I'm happy in my first qualifying to fight for pole position. Porsche looked strong – I'm surprised, but we did it."

The pole-winning duo's time was just 0.154s quicker than the rest of the LMP1 runners. The No. 2 Porsche LMP Team 919 of Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard slotted in second with a 1m38.272s combined time, preventing a Toyota sweep of the front row.

Third was the second of the Porsches, bolstered by Andre Lotterer's 1m37.886s lap during his time in the car, making him the fastest driver on track. It left the No. 8 Toyota to take fourth, after a scary moment at the Warsteiner-Kurve.

Kazuki Nakajima going through the right-hander came up quickly behind a weaving Nelson Panciatici in the No. 35 Signatech Alpine trying to warm his tires. Unaware the Toyota was behind him he swerved right in front of it, sending Nakajima onto the grass at high speed, and then again when he rejoined the circuit, almost taking the nose off the car.

"It looked exactly as if he'd spotted me and immediately moved over, out of my way, so much so, that I was raising my hand to say thank you," Nakajima told RACER. "It was very close indeed. Luckily the car stayed in a straight line, the lap was gone due to track limits, but there's no doubt that it didn't help us at all."

The No. 35 Alpine team will serve a 30-second penalty during the race as a result of the incident. That makes three LMP2s to serve a penalty in the 6 Hours, along with the No. 26 G-Drive and No. 24 Manor ORECAs.

LMP1's fifth car, the ByKolles CLM, had a tough session. The Austrian team has complained of vibrations in the car resulting in poor lap times out on track. The time set by the car was a 1m47.485s, only good enough for 13th overall on the grid.

when it was found post-session to have a skid block where the front part "deflects more than 5mm" when subjected to the mandatory test. Elevated from second in the running order is the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA of Oliver Jarvis and Thomas Laurent, who together posted a combined 1m45.197s. Rounding out the top three was the No. 31 Rebellion ORECA, six tenths off the G-Drive time, and the team's sister No. 13 ORECA.

Hanley set the best LMP2 lap of the LMP session, with a 1m44.331s to set up Thiriet for a run to the top spot. The team will not benefit much though, as it will have to serve the stop-and-hold penalty mentioned above.

"The team have done a great job, and we mixed up the run plan because off the weather, and it proved beneficial," Hanley said. "The team did a great job, the car was great. The time surprised me when I passed the finish line! It should only get hotter tomorrow, but it's been changing every day."

Alpine's No. 35 A470 qualified fifth, though Panciatici was called to the stewards after the aforementioned incident with the Toyota, the penalty ruining an otherwise solider performance.

While Porsche narrowly missed out on the overall pole in LMP1, its works GT team did take the honors in GTE Pro. Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen pushed hard in the No. 92 911 RSR, earning its first WEC pole position with an average time of 1m54.007s. The fastest time of the pair was set by the Dane, Christensen's best flyer was stunning, making him the only driver win the 1m53s in the session after a 1m53.799s.

"It's been tough for us this year, it feels great to get pole here, I'm really pleased," Estre said. "It's only Qqualifying but it's nice to stand on top."

Second in the class order was the No. 95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage. Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen combined for a 1m54.352s, a far better time than the sister No. 97, which ended up last in the class, 1.3 seconds off the pole time after the team opted to conserve tires in the session, splitting the strategy between the two cars.

Porsche did the same on the strategy front, the No. 91 finishing up third after a 1m54.518s, and only one set of tires used in the running, while the pole car used two sets. It was nevertheless an impressive time.

Aston Martin had a good Am session, too, with the No. 98 Vantage taking pole following tours of the circuit by Paul Dalla Lana and Pedro Lamy. Together they set a 1m56.721s, to beat out the Dempsey Proton 911 RSR and Spirit of Race Ferrari which finished the day second and third.

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UP NEXT: The 6 Hours of Nurburgring is set to start at 1:00 p.m. local time in Germany.