Toyota locks up front row at Silverstone
The No. 2 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron will head the second row. The nr 12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota finished in 4th place, pushing world champions Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler onto row three.
The LMP2 grid will be headed by the No. 25 Delta-ADR Oreca Nissan with Antonio Pizzonia and James Walker posting an average time over the four laps of 1:53.810. The Silverstone based team celebrated as the time was 2.4 seconds ahead of the nr24 Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan.
Aston Martin Racing also had cause to celebrate as three of their cars posted the three fastest times in GTE to claim both poles in the GTE Pro and GTE Am classes. Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke claimed pole position in GTE Pro with an average time over the four laps of 2m00.566, just two tenths of a second ahead of the nr99 Aston Martin Vantage of Pedro Lamy and Fred Makowiecki.
The No. 96 Aston Martin Vantage of Stuart Hall and Jamie Campbell-Walter was the third fastest GTE car to claim pole position in GTE Am, finishing ahead of the two Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche 911s and the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari.
The 6 Hours of Silverstone will start at 12:00 on Sunday 14 April and is the opening round of the eight race FIA World Endurance Championship.
Alex Wurz
No. 7 Toyota Racing Toyota TS030-Hybrid
“It was a new qualifying format but today it was totally overshadowed by the weather conditions. With a rain shower at the beginning and a drying track at the end it was quite tricky. Nico did a super job in the first stint. I took over the car with slick tires and the circuit was dry enough to put in a good lap time. So we are very happy; we have pole position and that’s what we like."
Nicolas Lapierre
No. 7 Toyota Racing Toyota TS030-Hybrid
“It is a really good start to the season getting the pole position here at Silverstone in those difficult conditions. It was a good strategy from the engineers, drivers and all the team. Pole position is one thing but also getting the fastest lap is very important for us and gives us confidence for tomorrow. The car is looking good. It will be a tough race but it’s so important for us to start first and second on the grid so we are very happy right now."
Darren Turner
No. 97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8
“It’s a great way to start to the 2013 WEC. We’re all very proud of the boys who have really been up against it to get four cars ready for this weekend; it’s a lovely reward for them to see both cars take pole. Yesterday was tricky; we missed the first session so have been playing catch up a little. Also, with the mixed conditions no one has an idea what their cars will be like in the race.
"The qualifying format is different to what anyone is used to and our directive was to go flat out. To get a good result for Aston Martin this weekend is fantastic. It’s an important year for us and we want to hit the ground running. Qualifying isn’t that important in endurance racing, but it’s certainly a nice birthday treat."
Jamie Campbell-Walter
No. 96 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8
“Obviously, we arrived at Silverstone with the same specification car as the one that won in Shanghai at the end of last year. This has enabled us as a team of three drivers to feel comfortable in the car very quickly. Aston Martin Racing did a fantastic job and we all pushed hard. It’s the home race for Aston Martin in its centenary year so it’s a great way to kick the season off."
LMP1
1 7 Toyota Racing A. WURZ / N. LAPIERRE Toyota TS030 – Hybrid 1'48.021
2 8 Toyota Racing A. DAVIDSON / S. BUEMI / S. SARRAZIN Toyota TS030 – Hybrid +1.974
3 2 Audi Sport Team Joest T. KRISTENSEN / L. DUVAL / A. McNISH Audi R18 e-tron quattro +3.262
4 12 Rebellion Racing N. PROST / N. JANI / N. HEIDFELD Lola B12/60 Coupé – Toyota +4.102
LMP2
1 25 Delta-ADR T. GRAVES / A. PIZZONIA / J. WALKER Oreca 03 – Nissan 1'55.148
2 24 OAK Racing O. PLA / D. HEINEMEIER HANSSON / A. BRUNDLE Morgan – Nissan +2.481
3 26 G-Drive Racing R. RUSINOV / J. MARTIN / M. CONWAY Oreca 03 – Nissan +2.549
LMGTE Pro
1 97 Aston Martin Racing D. TURNER / S. MÃœCKE / B. SENNA Aston Martin Vantage V8 2'00.566
2 99 Aston Martin Racing P. DALLA LANA / F. MAKOWIECKI / P. LAMY Aston Martin Vantage V8 +0.206
3 91 Porsche AG Team Manthey J. BERGMEISTER / P. PILET / T. BERNHARD Porsche 911 RSR +0.742
LMGTE Am
1 96 Aston Martin Racing R. GOETHE / S. HALL / J. CAMPBELL-WALT Aston Martin Vantage V8 2'01.158
2 95 Aston Martin Racing C. NYGAARD / K. POULSEN / A. SIMONSEN Aston Martin Vantage V8 +0.386
3 61 AF Corse J. GERBER / M. GRIFFIN / M. CIOCI Ferrari F458 Italia +1.238