Toyota and Iron Dames on Pole for Sao Paulo round

WECHyperCar

Jul 13

Two Toyota Gazoo Racing, two Porsche Penske split by the #2 Cadillac were the top 5 of the 6 Hours of São Paulo’s Hypercars’ Hyperpole. Second pole position of the season for Sarah Bovy with #85 Irons Dames Lamborghini.

Toyota Gazoo Racing in front row

Both Toyota GR010 Hybrid will start the in 6 Hours of São Paulo on front row tomorrow. Kamui Kobayashi with #7 GR010 HYBRID clinched pole in 1:23.140, 0,122 sec. ahead of his teammate Buemi ensuring the team’s first front pole, and first row lock-out, since Bahrain 2023

📷 © Courtesy of Toyota Gazoo Racing. Both Toyota GR010 Hybrid will start from front row.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “We got the best possible result as a team. Me and Séb certainly enjoyed it today. We had an amazing car, and it was fun to drive, especially because Interlagos is such a great track. We have struggled a bit in qualifying at times this season because the competition is really strong, but finally we have a pole position which is a fantastic feeling. After Le Mans, the team made a big effort for this race, thank you to them and everyone at TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, and a special thanks to the fans here at Interlagos for their support.”

Sebastien Buemi enables Toyota Gazoo Racing to lock first row in 1:23.262.

Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “I really enjoyed it. It was my first qualifying for a long time, so it was nice to have the chance and I am very pleased with the result. It’s a great performance from the team and a one-two in qualifying for the first time since last year. It is just qualifying and there’s a long race to go, but it gives us a good starting position. Hopefully we can help car #7 win the race and get some good manufacturers’ World Championship points as well.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Porsche and Cadillac in second row

Matt Campbell with the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 posted the third quickest lap ahead of Alex Lynn who recorded a best lap of 1:23.396 sec. in the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R.

Lynn’s best lap of six in the 10-minute Hyperpole was only .256 of a second off the pole-winning time of the #7 Toyota GR010 driven by former Cadillac Racing endurance driver Kamui Kobayashi and .134 of a second from a third consecutive front-row start.

📷 © Courtesy of FIA WEC. Second row for Porsche 963 #5 and Cadillac #2

Matt Campbell (Porsche 963 #5): “Third on the grid is great and a little more than we expected to be honest. Starting from the second grid row puts us in a solid position. The qualifying session was extremely close – I really enjoyed it. Still, with much warmer temperatures in the six-hour race, things will look completely different. We need to keep a very close eye on our tyre wear because we want to be at the front.”
Alex Lynn: “It is important to start at the front and we did that. Thanks to Cadillac Racing for giving me a strong car again in qualifying. This car is such a pleasure to drive on low fuel and new tires. A long race tomorrow but we’re in a good spot. We feel confident. It’s a busy small track, tight and twisty so we need to be smart tomorrow and keep our wits about us. But I think we have a strong car to get a good result.” Source: Cadillac Racing

Porsche - Ferrari in third row

Current Championship leader in #6 Porsche will start from third row (thanks to Kevin Estre steering). They’ll share that row with #50 Ferrari that ended up 0.4 sec. off pole with Antonio Fuoco at the wheel.

📷 © Courtesy of FIA WEC. Third row for Porsche 963 #6 and Ferrari #50

Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6): “The car handled well, but we lacked a little pace when it counted in the bid for pole position. That said, the gap is small. It’s tricky getting everything just right in one hot lap on this circuit. Now we’re looking ahead to the race. Let’s see where we stand compared to the competition over the six-hour distance. We’re aiming for another podium finish and to extend our lead in the championship.” Source: Porsche

Both JOTA Porsches will start from fourth row.

The Hertz Team Jota customer team also underlined the potential of the Porsche 963 in Interlagos. Positions seven and eight were claimed by the Spa race winner Callum Ilott in the #12 hybrid prototype and Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula 1 world champion, in the #38 car.

Callum Ilott (Porsche 963 #12): “The first part of the qualifying was great. But I suddenly lost a bit of grip in the hyperpole session. That’s something we’ll need to look at and fix before the race. I’m a little disappointed because I know our car is capable of more than the results show. We could’ve done better. Anyway, seventh is a decent starting point. Let’s see what we can achieve in the race.”
Jenson Button (Porsche 963 #38): “The qualifying session was good but finishing eighth in the hyperpole is a bit disappointing because the car felt great. Given how close the hyperpole times were, a small improvement could’ve put us much further ahead. Two things ultimately prevented me from achieving a better result: I drove a little too close to the Ferrari in front. That helped initially, but then I veered off the track slightly and lost time. Secondly, we struggled with high tyre degradation which impacted our lap times, and we didn’t really maximise the car. Still, we’ve started from worse positions. Let’s see what we can do on race day.”

#51 Ferrari and #20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 round the top 10 who qualified for Hyperpole.

Sarah Bovy second pole this season

Sarah Bovy was the fastest of LMGT3 Hyperpole with #85 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 / Iron Dames in 1:35.299, 0.163s; ahead of Alex Malykhin in #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R / Manthey Pure Rxcing. Five manudfacturers are represented in the top 5 with Mc Laren #95 third, #55 Ferrari 296 GT3 fourth and Aston Martin Vantage #27 fifth.

📷 © Courtesy of FIA WEC. Bovy clinch pole in LMGT3.

SARAH BOVY: “Taking pole at São Paulo feels different because it is a track synonymous with Ayrton Senna. I’m a bit emotional right now because this is very special. Thank you very much to the entire team for giving me a great car again and I can't wait go racing tomorrow.” Source: Iron Dames