Images by LAT
Toyota locks out Spa front row as lap records fall
Toyota Gazoo Racing will start from pole in tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, after a record-breaking performance. The team’s No. 7 TS050 HYBRID broke the WEC qualifying lap record at the Belgian circuit, on an afternoon where all four WEC class qualifying lap records fell. Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi set a remarkable 1m53.747s combined average time en route to pole position ahead of tomorrow’s six-hour race.
The pair struck early, with drops of rain starting to fall. Kobayashi took the wheel first, managing a 1m53.812s before Conway climbed in and lapped the 4.3-mile circuit even quicker. The former IndyCar man set a best time of 1m53.683s before the rain increased and prompted much of the Prototype field to pit.
https://twitter.com/FIAWEC/status/1124310055644536832
“The performance was good, we did the best job we could. I think me and Mike did a great job, the car performed well, I was happy with the lap.” Kobayashi said. “At the last corner it started raining, so I had to take it a bit careful, but it was a clear lap. We managed to get both cars to set times in the dry.
“I think we expect snow tomorrow. For the moment the weather forecasts are predicting snow and rain, and they’ve been accurate so far.”
Their time was half a second quicker than the sister No. 8 TS050 HYBRID, which finished up with a 1m54.243s best time.
The best of the privateer LMP1s was again from SMP Racing. The Russian team continued to run quicker than Rebellion’s R-13s, its No. 17 BR1 AER managing a 1m54.711s, to get within a second of the pole time.
It was a remarkable combined average from the No. 17, considering the BR1 AER in the first race of the season at Spa a year ago set a best average of 1m58.2s, in what was the car’s first race weekend. Real progress was shown.
The best of the Rebellions was the No. 3 R-13 Gibson, which ended up fourth.
LMP2’s qualifying record was broken by G-Drive Racing, which took the pole with its (rebadged ORECA 07) Aurus 01. This performance, bringing the Russian limousine maker its first WEC pole, continued the team’s form from the ELMS season opener, where it also scored pole.
Jean-Eric Vergne and WEC debutant Job Van Uitert drove the car and combined to set the team’s time, a 2m00.674s, before the red flags came out for the ByKolles CLM grinding to a halt at the start line with under 10 minutes left.
“I felt that it was one of the best laps of my life,” claimed Vergne. “I put everything out there on track. I couldn’t have gone quicker. I brought some skis tomorrow in case we can’t drive. It’s going to be a survival race in difficult conditions.”
The top three in the class was completed by the two Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECAs, the No. 38 leading the No. 37, six and nine-tenths off pole respectively.
The fight for pole continues to be a lottery in LMP2, as there have now been six different polesitters in seven races this season.
GT categories on next pageIn GTE Pro, it was extremely tight. Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK eventually celebrated the class pole after a sterling job from Harry Tincknell and Andy Priaulx in the No. 67 GT to marginally break the previous Pro record.
Tincknell set a 2m12.797s in the first part of the session before handing over to fellow Briton Priaulx, who right at the end of the session set a 2m12.973s to vault the No. 67 above the No. 97 Aston that was demoted to the second spot on the grid by less than a tenth. The No. 67’s average was a 2m12.885s.
“Weather forecast says rain, snow, so we thought, 'Let’s go for pole, let’s go for the point!'” Said a jubilant Harry Tincknell. “Fantastic drive from Andy, what a lap -- the car was on rails today, a pleasure to drive. We’re starting from pole two years in a row, let’s get the win.”
In fact the top three ended up within a tenth, as the No. 82 BMW Team MTEK M8 -- which looked odds on for a front row spot in the first half of the session -- ended up with a 2m12.911s combined average.
The No. 81 BMW, which sat top after the first round of times after a 2m12.879s from Nicky Catsburg, ended up fourth after Martin Tomczyk failed to match his teammate’s pace. The No. 95 Aston Martin, will start the race fifth.
In GTE Am, the fight for pole was settled at the very end, too, although in this instance it was an Aston Martin that benefited from last-lap heroics and a record-breaking lap with the previous generation Vantage. Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluc combined to hand TF Sport its first WEC class pole with a 2m16.061s average, achieved after Turkish racer Yoluc set a 2m17.107s at the end.
“It was really close -- we had to go for another set of tires and Salih pieced it all together to get the pole we’ve been looking for all year,” said Eastwood. “Not a bad run in my first ever WEC qualifying session! My best lap was the best lap I’ve ever had in the Aston, and it came at the right time.”
The TF Sport duo’s performance denied the No. 88 Proton Competition Porsche class pole, the German team’s 911 RSR set to start second in class.
There was just one incident in the GTE session, involving the No. 70 MR Racing Ferrari, which had an off at Raidillon. Motoaki Ishikawa lost the rear end of the 488 GTE coming over the crest, and was sent spinning into the barriers on the outside.
Thankfully the spins slowed the car down significantly, meaning the damage wasn’t half as bad as it could have been, allowing him to drive away without causing a red flag.
UP NEXT: The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is set to start tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. local time in Belgium.
Stephen Kilbey
UK-based Stephen Kilbey is RACER.com's FIA World Endurance Championship correspondent, and is also Deputy Editor of Dailysportscar.com He has a first-class honours degree in Sports Journalism and is a previous winner of the UK Guild of Motoring Writers Sir William Lyons Award.
Read Stephen Kilbey's articles
Latest News
Comments
Comments are disabled until you accept Social Networking Cookies. Update cookie preferences
If the dialog doesn't appear, ad-blockers are often the cause; try disabling yours or see our Social Features Support.