Toyota in row 1, Porsche in row 2
📷 © Courtesy of Toyota Gazoo Racing: Both Toyota GR010 Hybrid top FP2.
Both Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hypercar Hybrid will start from first row the 6 Hours of Fuji ahead of the two Porsche Penske 963.
Kamui Kobayashi did set a new Hypercar lap record of 1min 27.794secs clinching pole position in the #7 GR010 HYBRID 0,624 sec. ahead of Brendon Hartley with #8 Toyota.
The point for pole position extends TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s World Championship lead over Ferrari to 27 points and brings the #7 crew to within 22 points of their #8 team-mates in the drivers’ standings.
📷 © Courtesy of Toyota Gazoo Racing: #7 GR010 Hybrid qualify first.
Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “It’s great to get a result like this at our home track. This is an important weekend for us and to show our performance like this is very special. Due to the rain, we have had very limited running in dry conditions, but the team did a great job to put everything together for qualifying and I did a pretty good lap on my first attempt. The car felt really strong compared to practice; it improved a lot. I was not expecting a lap time like that, and I was a bit shocked when I saw it. To have a fast car today is a good indication for the race but it will not be easy. We expect it to be a dry race and it could be hot, so we need to judge the tyre choice well and, as always, we need some luck. We are ready, we will work hard, and I hope we can finish one-two.”
Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “This is a really good team result. I wasn’t totally happy with the balance on our car, which shifted a bit since final practice when it had felt better. In qualifying I struggled a bit, although we are still second so it’s a strong performance. The rain was starting towards the end and even on my fast lap I had some spots of my windscreen. Qualifying in Hypercar is always a big fight and it was a tricky session for everyone, with the conditions and the challenge to find track position. Kamui did an amazing lap, bravo to him. It’s great to lock out the front row, now let’s go for the win.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing
The two Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 have locked out the second grid row thanks to Kévin Estre (#6) and Frédéric Makowiecki (#5) who secured positions three and four. With this, the French duo has achieved the best qualifying result since the debut of the Porsche 963 in the FIA WEC.
📷 © Courtesy of Porsche: #6 Porsche Penske 963 is third thanks to Kevin Estre.
Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6): “Our Porsche Penske Motorsport cars are lined up alongside each other on the second row of the grid – brilliant! The car felt better than it previously had in qualifying, and that translated into our best result in the hunt for top times. This is proof that our hard work is paying off. We’re constantly improving. We also hit the ground running in qualifying. It’s not quite pole position, but it’s a clear step in that direction. Now we’ll see how we do over the distance in the race. In any case, the car feels fantastic.”
📷 © Courtesy of Porsche: Frédéric Makowiecki drove the #5 Porsche in P4 during qualifying.
Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 963 #5): “It’s a great result for us. We’ve made leaps and bounds with the car. It makes me proud to see how much we’ve improved since the start of the season. I think the car will be strong in the race as well. I’m really optimistic. Even if the weather conditions change throughout the day, I’m not worried at all; during practice we did well here in the rain and on a dry track.” Source: Porsche
📷 Courtesy of Cadillac Racing.
The #2 Cadillac V-Series.R will start the Six Hours of Fuji from the third row since Alex Lynn qualified fifth (Lynn made his FIA WEC debut at Fuji International Speedway in 2016).
Alex Lynn: "The session started with mixed conditions. After we got some heat in the tires, the pace picked up and by the fourth lap I was able to get a gap and post the qualifying lap. With weather moving across the circuit, there wasn't much to be gained in the closing minutes. We've shown in previous races that starting fifth in not a detriment, so we'll continue to work on the car and hopefully be in position at the end for another podium." Source: Cadillac Racing
📷 Courtesy of Ferrari.
James Calado qualified the #51 Ferrari 499P sixth in 1’28”991, while Nicklas Nielsen (with #50) completed the 15-minute time trial 72 thousandths behind.
JAMES CALADO: « I'm not surprised by the qualifying, although I was obviously hoping for a better result. We already knew in the run-up to the weekend that we'd be penalised even more than at Monza, so this is the best possible result for us, even though we're not happy. As for my qualifying, I made an excellent first attempt even though I lost something in the third sector, but even so, we wouldn't have been able to compete with the Toyota. It will be difficult in tomorrow's race because of our tyre degradation, but we will try to find the right strategy. Fuji is always an unknown quantity weather-wise. We'll need to be good at using any hitches to our advantage. » Source: Ferrari
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📷 Courtesy of Toyota: Toyota fastest in Friday practices
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📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. Toyota strikes fourth victory.
