Porsche takes 1-2 in Mexico WEC qualifying

#2 Porsche on pole

Brendon Hartley set the outright fastest lap of a mixed conditions qualifying session in Mexico today to lay the foundations for the No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid's bid for success in the 6 Hours of Mexico Presented by AT&T.

Brendon Hartley set the outright fastest lap of a qualifying session held under mixed conditions in Mexico today to lay the foundations for the No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid’s first pole position of the 2017 FIA World Endurance championship season.

The Kiwi ace peaked on a 1m24.459s before handing over to teammate Timo Bernhard who consolidated the pole with an average lap time of 1m24.562s. It will be a Porsche front row as André Lotterer and Nick Tandy combined to achieve the German marque's first front row of the season.

Toyota will start the 6 Hours of Mexico presented by AT&T in third and fourth positions, while in LMP2 the Signatech Alpine pair of Andre Negrao and Nicolas Lapierre ensured Les Bleues' first pole of the season.

Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard combined to take pole position in the No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid
• The Kiwi/German axis set an average of 1m24.562s to claim their first pole of the 2017 season
• Nick Tandy and Andre Lotterer join the No.2 Porsche on the front row and set an average time just 0.148s behind their stablemates
• Toyota line up third and fourth with No.7 ahead of No.8 TS 0505 HYBRID
• LMP2 pole taken by Signatech Alpine of Andre Negrao and Nicolas Lapierre
• Les Bleues confirm their first pole of 2017 season as average of 1m32.809s is 0.3s clear of opposition
• Late time by Ho-Pin Tung pushes up No.38 Jackie Chan DC Racing car to second position on grid. Thomas Laurent also qualified.
• Bruno Senna and Julien Canal complete top three in LMP2 class

The Porsche LMP Team after qualifying

Fritz Enzinger, Vice President LMP1: “After an impressive performance in all three practice sessions, another great team effort led to a front row lock-out. This means the best possible situation for the start of the race in which we hope to take another step closer to our aim of title defense."

Andreas Seidl, Team Principal: “A dream result for us and the first all-Porsche front row since Le Mans 2016. This amazing outcome rewards the entire team for the hard work of the past few weeks. Contrary to all predictions, the track stayed dry for the majority of the day. Team and drivers made a perfect job, both cars got through qualifying with one set of tires each. But the pole position is just a snap shot, the six hours tomorrow will be tough. The weather forecast is very unstable and that could provide more challenges for us. But we feel well prepared and are looking forward to the race now."

Drivers Porsche 919 Hybrid car number 1:
Neel Jani (33, Switzerland): “Our 919 feels quite good, I think we are ready for the race. We used the practice sessions for tire comparison and evaluation, which is important for a race that may prove unpredictable especially regarding the weather situation. Starting the race with both Porsches on the front row is obviously an ideal situation."

André Lotterer (35, Germany): “This is a top result for the whole team. Of course I would have preferred to take pole but apparently it wasn’t easy for Nick to get the tires up to temperature. I took over with the same set and can quite understand that. The fact we used only a single set obviously is good for the race. Already in free practice our two cars looked good compared to Toyota. The circuit lay-out suits our 919 very well, allowing us to lap very efficiently."

Nick Tandy (32, Great Britain): “It is the best possible result for the team. Whoever occupies the front row always has the chance to control the race. I’m very happy. It was good for me to have some dry running earlier today in free practice. The circuit is new to me and it was good to get some more track knowledge as well as working on the car. The track is very difficult for traffic management. I also talked to our colleagues in the GT cars and they say it is the same for them. It seems the nature of the turns in the middle of the lap makes it very difficult for the classes to interact together."

Drivers Porsche 919 Hybrid car number 2
Earl Bamber (27, New Zealand): “Our car looks really strong and it is going well also on long runs. We have a few things to tidy up on and we need to keep pushing because it is close with Toyota. I’m very much looking forward to the race."

Timo Bernhard (36, Germany): “We had done some set-up changes in FP3 and it appears these worked well. Brendon set a very good lap time in qualifying and I was under pressure to deliver in order not to upset the team! My lap was almost completely clean and I’m very pleased we have achieved another pole position for Porsche. This is only a small step compared to the race but a great injection of self-confidence and a huge motivation."

Brendon Hartley (27, New Zealand): “It was a really good qualifying for us. I was in the car first and went quickest. But Toyota were actually a lot closer than expected, apparently they were hiding some pace in free practice. Timo finished qualifying off for our car and we used only one set of tires to keep our options for the race. Tomorrow the weather is difficult to predict but today we are happy to get one more point."

For all the times from qualifying CLICK HERE. Tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Mexico, the fifth round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship, will start at 12 noon (local time).