Rebellion Racing takes first overall pole in Shanghai

#1 Rebellion on pole

Now that the FIA has neutered the hybrid Toyotas a non-hybrid LMP1 car will start a WEC race from pole position in the 4 Hours of Shanghai World Endurance Championship race Sunday.

The best time here in China to score pole for the four hours of Shanghai, was set by Bruno Senna and Gustavo Menezes in the #1 Rebellion. The duo set a 1:45.892 average, after two significantly faster lap times than anyone managed during practice.

“It was good!" Exclaimed Senna. “The car feels so nice in qualifying with new tires and low fuel. The challenge is big tomorrow with the tire degradation, it will be very tricky. Here Gustavo inspired me to do a big lap. The fact that we managed to be in front of the Toyotas and Ginettas is really cool."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Not only did Toyota miss out on pole, but it missed out on a front row grid spot too. Starting second on the grid will be the fastest of the two Team LNT Ginetta G60-LT-P1s, the #6 of Mike Simpson and Charlie Robertson, Simpson setting a late 1:47.427 to vault the car to second with an average of 1:47.092. His lap came after a brief spin, a great recovery from the Englishman.

The #5 Ginetta will start from third, ahead of the two Toyotas that slotted in fourth and fifth, 1.3 and 2.2 seconds off pole. The Success Handicap appears to have had a major impact here, in single-lap pace at least. Will this form translate to the race tomorrow? We will have to wait and see.

Highlights

LMP1

• Rebellion Racing take first ever overall pole position as North and South American pairing of Gustavo Menezes and Bruno Senna set average best time of 1:45.892.
• Qualifying session saw first three grid positions filled by non-hybrid cars for the first time since introduction of hybrid power in 2012.
• Senna sets fastest overall time of 1:45.778 in No.1 Rebellion R13-Gibson.
• Team LNT starts second and third with AER-engined No.6 Ginetta heading No.5 sister car.
• Charlie Robertson and Michael Simpson combine and, despite a late spin from Simpson, they start from the front row alongside Rebellion.
• Egor Orudzhev and Ben Hanley combine to place third in No.5 Ginetta.
• No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing car driven by Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi starts fourth; No.8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID places fifth – both cars being slowed in one-lap pace by Success Handicap thanks to victories in Silverstone and Fuji.

LMGTE Pro

• No.92 Porsche 911 RSR claims pole in LMGTE Pro as Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen combine to average 1:59.579 and take their first pole of Season 8 in very close qualifying session.
• Estre sets fastest overall lap with a 1:59.024 best for Porsche’s first ever GTE Pro pole in Shanghai.
• Aston Martin Racing takes second as Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen in the No.95 entry combine to set an average time of 1:59.597 just 0.018s ahead of nearest rivals.
• AMR place second and third as No.97 Vantage AMR of Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin are just 0.01s back from stablemates.
• No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi starts fourth in class.

LMP2

• LMP2 sees Cool Racing take first ever WEC pole as Nicolas Lapierre and Antonin Borga average 1:48.649 in the No.42 ORECA 07 Gibson. Lapierre’s time of 1:48.089 is a new qualifying record for the WEC in Shanghai.
• Second in LMP2 is the No.37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Will Stevens and Gabriel Aubry combine for 1:48.775 – last year’s winners being the best placed Goodyear-shod entry.
• Just two tenths of a second behind was the No.22 United Autosports ORECA of Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque.

LMGTE Am

• No.56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR tops LMGTE Am as Matteo Cairoli and Egidio Perfetti combine with an average best of 2:00.824.
• Cairoli sets best lap of 2:00.031 and the Norwegian/Italian alliance takes first pole of Season 8.
• Second in LMGTE Am is the No.98 Aston Martin Racing entry with Paul Dalla Lana and Ross Gunn combining for a time of 2:01.528. This is the first time since 2013 that Aston Martin Racing has not claimed class pole in Shanghai.
• No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche starts third ahead of No.90 TF Sport Aston Martin which claimed pole at the two previous rounds.

Quotes

Bruno Senna – No.1 Rebellion Racing Rebellion R13-Gibson

“I think the car really comes to life on low fuel and new tyres. Last year was amazing to drive the car in qualifying here. Last year we were about three seconds faster than today, which is a bit strange. Today the car was gripping better and I felt I left a bit on the track unfortunately, but when you are losing three seconds it takes a bit of getting used to.

“We know the degradation for the tyres is very high here, so we need to make sure the tyres are surviving the double stints. We know the Toyotas will have a strong race with regards to tyre degradation, we saw that their average pace so far has been quite flat, so I guess they don’t have the peak pace but their average pace is strong. Hopefully we can deal with traffic as well as them.

“The Ginetta is obviously very fast. If they are in front of us it will be very difficult to overtake as they are about 10kph faster than us on the straights and we are not much faster than the LMP2s so traffic management will be very important tomorrow. Hopefully we can finish where we start the race."

Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen top LMGTE Pro

Kevin Estre – No.92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19

“To be honest my lap didn’t feel that special and I think that was the key. It was very hard here to put a lap together – also for us it is a huge gain on new tyres and low fuel and I just tried to drive without making any mistakes.

“It may have been a mega lap time but in the car it didn’t feel that special. I am really happy for our side of the garage as we haven’t had great qualifying so far this year, our last pole was Sebring. It’s cool but it is going to be a very long race tomorrow as tyre degradation is high here. It’s good to start first but it’s going to long and the long run might be different than qualifying."

Nicolas Lapierre – No.42 Cool Racing Oreca-Gibson

“My lap was ok and because you have just one lap here, it is a matter of not messing it up. Most important today is that I am very proud of the team because it is the first time in the WEC and it is the first pole.

“My team-mate as well didn’t know the track and it was a great achievement for everyone -we are happy and looking forward to the race tomorrow."

#56 Porsche

Egidio Perfetti – No.56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR

“Obviously it is great to get our first pole of the season and we hope to get lots more. It is a bit strange how we ended the last session but we insisted on continuing with another set of tyres and the track helped.

“Possibly the track was too green for us earlier and I think I managed to get a bit more settled and that helped us to me more comfortable today and not to worry too much about the set-up. Then it was a matter of not pushing too hard and putting the sectors together."

Tomorrow’s 4 Hours of Shanghai will get underway at 12h00 local time.

Qualifying Results