Cadillac earns first WEC pole position at Fuji

WECHyperCar

Sep 14

The Hyperpole field was separated by .688 of a second with Cadillac earning its first pole, two Toyota in first and second row and a first second row for BMW in P3.

Third time in front row for Cadillac V-Series.R

Alexander Lynn topped the lap time chart in the 12-minute Hypercar qualifying recording a best lap of 1:29.090 and improved to 1:28.901 seconds in the 10-minute Hyperpole session to clinch pole position for tomorrow’s race.

It is the fifth consecutive race that the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R powered by the purpose-built 5.5-liter V8 engine has qualified in the top four and third time this season that it has qualified on the front row, though second for the 24 Hours of Le Mans was met with a grid penalty. P3 at Bahrain was the highest qualifying effort in the inaugural season of the Cadillac LMDh platform.

Alexander Lynn with #2 Cadillac V-Series.R — 📷 © Courtesy of FIA WEC. **Alexander Lynn** with #2 **Cadillac V-Series.R**

Alex Lynn: “It feels so good. Honestly, we've tried so hard all year. I have to say this car is amazing on one lap. Massive congrats to Cadillac. I just wanted to give the team a pole position this year. We came so close so many times and I'm so proud to have finally done it. I still have nightmares of that Le Mans night, missing it by a tenth. Nothing is given for free. If you can start up front in these races, it’s a big advantage. The tire preparation has been a big part of extracting the maximum over one lap. It’s a fantastic racecar that Cadillac has built us. We’re still trying to figure out how to make it just as fast over six hours or even 24. We know how to make it fast, it’s just getting it to do that for the whole time, being at that speed for the whole time. I feel confident that we should be finding some good points tomorrow. We haven’t changed our mentality. We know we’re quite good in qualifying, but 99 percent of our focus has been on the race. Hopefully, all that work we’ve put in will stand us in good stead tomorrow when the lights go out. The track is pretty good. It’s quite hot out here this year, so that’s always a challenge trying to set the car up for multiple temperatures throughout tomorrow’s race.” Source: Cadillac

Toyota #8 in front row for home race

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will challenge for another home victory from the front of the grid. In his first Hypercar qualifying, Ryo Hirakawa’s blistering lap of 1min 28.942secs earned a front-row start in the #8 GR010 HYBRID he shares with Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley, and missed pole position by just 0.041secs in front of the team’s enthusiastic home fans.

📷 © Courtesy of FIA WEC. Ryo Hirakawa’s TOYOTA GAZOO Racing #8 GR010 HYBRID.

Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “I am happy to be on the front row from my first-ever qualifying in WEC. I was a bit nervous before the session, but I am pleased with my lap in Hyperpole, which I think extracted as much performance as possible from the GR010 HYBRID. Now we have a good basis and hopefully we can get through turn one in a strong position. It will not be easy in the race because the leading Hypercars were all very close today, but we will keep pushing. We want to win and strengthen our chances in the World Championship.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing.

First top three for BMW M Team WRT

BMW driver Dries Vanthoor put the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 third on the grid, falling just 0.158 seconds shy of the pole benchmark..

📷 © Courtesy of FIA WEC. Dries Vanthoor with #15 BMW M Hybrid V8.

The Belgian driver of the #15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 achieved the best combined time of the three free practices Friday and Saturday morning, completing his reference lap in 1'29"577 during FP2.

Second row for Toyota #7

Kamui Kobayashi, pole position winner at Fuji Speedway for the last two years, came within 0.164secs of taking a hat-trick. The #7 GR010 HYBRID, which Kamui drives alongside Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries, will start round seven of the season from fourth on the grid.

📷 © Courtesy of FIA WEC. Kamui Kobayashi with #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “Starting second and fourth is pretty good for the race, so it was a positive qualifying result. Fuji is our home race, and we are normally strong here, but we had to work very hard to achieve this result. Now we need to focus on the race to get the maximum out of our car. Hopefully it will be another successful race in front of a lot of fans. There will be 5,000 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing fans in a dedicated grandstand so I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of flags and support. I am sure they will cheer us on to a strong race.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Drivers leader in P5

The best Porsche 963 fielded by the Porsche Penske Motorsport works team will tackle the six-hour race at the Fuji Speedway from position five. Kévin Estre was just a quarter of a second off pole position with Porsche 963 #6. With Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium and Germany’s André Lotterer, the Frenchman heads into the penultimate round leading the standings.

📷 © Courtesy of FIA WEC. Kevin Estre with #6 Porsche 963.

Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6): “The hyperpole session was good, the Porsche 963 felt great – but I didn’t manage to get a perfect lap. In such a competitive field, that’ll throw you two or three places further back. Still, we have a decent starting position. If Laurens manages to get a strong start, we can be up among the frontrunners after the first stint tomorrow.” Source: Porsche