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30th
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From press release
Toyota Racing locked out the front row ahead of Six Hours of Bahrain, the Japanese manufacturer claiming its second consecutive pole position.
The use of a different Michelin compound in qualifying compared to the morning's third and final practice session was, according to Kazuki Nakajima, key to the No.7 TS 030 Hybrid's claim on pole position. The Japanese driver and his team mate Alex Wurz set a combined fastest average time of 1:42.449 to put them ahead of the No.8 Toyota of Sarrazin-Davidson by 0.332 seconds.
Two tenths of a second behind the Toyotas was the first of the two Audi R18 e-tron quattros, the No.1 of Lotterer-Fassler with a combined time of 1:42.976. In fourth place was the No.2 Audi, the World Champions Elect just 0.169 seconds behind their team mates, while in fifth overall was the No.12 LMP1 Privateer entry of Rebellion Racing, Nicolas Prost and Mathias Beche having completed qualifying duties.
Pecom Racing's No.49 ORECA 03 Nissan, driven by Nicolas Minassian and Pierre Kaffer, claimed its first pole position since the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps earlier this season, with a best average lap time of 1:50.941. This put the only Michelin-shod car in the LMP2 class ahead of all its competitors by the tiny margin of 0.062 seconds, the No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA Nissan of Martin-Conway taking second place in the category.
The No. 92 Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR of Richard Lietz and Marc Lieb took the team's first pole position of the season but it nearly all went wrong at the start of the session when Lietz had to pit when the gearbox got stuck in 3rd gear. A quick fix by the Porsche mechanics soon had the Austrian back in the fray.
Joining the no92 Porsche on the front row is the sister car of Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Pilet, finishing the 25-minute session just 0.123 seconds behind the pole car with an average lap time of 1m58.960.
The championship leading Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 of Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke moved to the head of row two when Turner put in a last gasp flying lap to move up from 6th place at the chequered flag. This means they start Saturday's race alongside their nearest rival for the title, the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Gianmaria Bruni, who is joined by Toni Vilander for this weekend.
The No. 99 Aston Martin Vantage of Bruno Senna, Ritchie Stanaway and Pedro Lamy with start from 5th on the grid, alongside the nr71 AF Corse Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella and Kamui Kobayashi.
In LMGTE Am the No. 95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 of Christoffer Nygaard, Nicki Thiim and Kristian Poulsen took their 6th class pole by the narrowest of margins. Nygaard and Thiim's average was a 2m00.303s, just 0.034s ahead of the No. 81 8 Star Motorsports Ferrari of Rui Aguas, Davide Rigon and Enzo Potolicchio.
Toyota Racing locked out the front row ahead of Six Hours of Bahrain, the Japanese manufacturer claiming its second consecutive pole position.
The use of a different Michelin compound in qualifying compared to the morning's third and final practice session was, according to Kazuki Nakajima, key to the No.7 TS 030 Hybrid's claim on pole position. The Japanese driver and his team mate Alex Wurz set a combined fastest average time of 1:42.449 to put them ahead of the No.8 Toyota of Sarrazin-Davidson by 0.332 seconds.
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| Alex Wurz, Kazuki Nakajima, Toyota TS030 Hybrid (Photo: Toyota) |
Two tenths of a second behind the Toyotas was the first of the two Audi R18 e-tron quattros, the No.1 of Lotterer-Fassler with a combined time of 1:42.976. In fourth place was the No.2 Audi, the World Champions Elect just 0.169 seconds behind their team mates, while in fifth overall was the No.12 LMP1 Privateer entry of Rebellion Racing, Nicolas Prost and Mathias Beche having completed qualifying duties.
Pecom Racing's No.49 ORECA 03 Nissan, driven by Nicolas Minassian and Pierre Kaffer, claimed its first pole position since the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps earlier this season, with a best average lap time of 1:50.941. This put the only Michelin-shod car in the LMP2 class ahead of all its competitors by the tiny margin of 0.062 seconds, the No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA Nissan of Martin-Conway taking second place in the category.
The No. 92 Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR of Richard Lietz and Marc Lieb took the team's first pole position of the season but it nearly all went wrong at the start of the session when Lietz had to pit when the gearbox got stuck in 3rd gear. A quick fix by the Porsche mechanics soon had the Austrian back in the fray.
Joining the no92 Porsche on the front row is the sister car of Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Pilet, finishing the 25-minute session just 0.123 seconds behind the pole car with an average lap time of 1m58.960.
The championship leading Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 of Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke moved to the head of row two when Turner put in a last gasp flying lap to move up from 6th place at the chequered flag. This means they start Saturday's race alongside their nearest rival for the title, the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Gianmaria Bruni, who is joined by Toni Vilander for this weekend.
The No. 99 Aston Martin Vantage of Bruno Senna, Ritchie Stanaway and Pedro Lamy with start from 5th on the grid, alongside the nr71 AF Corse Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella and Kamui Kobayashi.
In LMGTE Am the No. 95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 of Christoffer Nygaard, Nicki Thiim and Kristian Poulsen took their 6th class pole by the narrowest of margins. Nygaard and Thiim's average was a 2m00.303s, just 0.034s ahead of the No. 81 8 Star Motorsports Ferrari of Rui Aguas, Davide Rigon and Enzo Potolicchio.