News
Qualifying
A strong performance from the
Pole position at the Bahrain International Circuit was secured by
The qualifying in the WEC takes real teamwork. Two drivers must qualify one car for the race. The grid positions for the race are determined by the average of the two fastest timed qualifying laps of each of these drivers.
Hartmut Kristen,
Marc Lieb (#92): “Places one and two in qualifying are a really great result. We knew that it would be very difficult to keep the tyres constant over four laps, but we managed it really well. Richie did a great job on the first two laps, and then I just had to bring the thing home. The new car is a real step up - you can see this with the times. And it feels better too. We back in action and can keep up better on the straights. Our engineers in Weissach have done a really fabulous job.”
Richard Lietz (#92): “You don’t get a better result than this. The new car responded in qualifying just as we’d hoped for. So I was able to drive two very quick laps. Now if we can get the tyres through a stint without them deteriorating too much and losing grip, then things look good for the race.”
Patrick Pilet (#91): “This is a perfect result for the team. We didn’t expect such a strong showing in qualifying, although our further developed car was already performing well in practice. We’re making a few changes for the race so that we compete with the best set-up, but I’m feeling very confident. It’ll be a great day for
Joerg Bergmeister (#91): “That was the best qualifying of the season for
GTE-Pro class
1. Lieb/Lietz (D/A),
2. Bergmeister/Pilet (D/F),
3. Turner/Mücke (GB/D), Aston Martin Vantage, + 0.203
4. Bruni/Vilander (I/SF), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.216
5. Stanaway/Lamy/Senna (NZ/P/BRA), Aston Martin Vantage, + 0.334
6. Fisichella/Kobayashi (I/J), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.626
GTE-Am class
1. Nygaard/Poulsen/Thiim (DK/DK/DK), Aston Martin Vantage, 2:00.303 minutes
2. Potolicchio/Aguas/Rigon (I/P/I), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.034
3. Hall/Campbell-Walter/Goethe (GB/GB/D), Aston Martin Vantage, + 0.193
4. Collard/Griffin/Perrodo (FRA/IRL/FRA), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.224
5. Narac/Vernay/Palttala (F/F/SF),
6. Ried/Roda/Ruberti (D/I/I),
The race starts on Saturday at 15.00 hrs local time (13.00 CET). Eurosport 2 broadcasts the race live from 18.00 to 19.00 hrs CET. Eurosport International televises highlights at 21.30 hrs CET. The race can be watched live on www.fiawec.com.
All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.