The two Porsche 919 Hybrids will start from the front row for the six-hour race at the Fuji International Speedway. Championship leaders Earl Bamber (NZ), Timo Bernhard (DE) and Brendon Hartley (NZ) took pole position in front of the sister car in the hands of reigning world champion Neel Jani (CH), André Lotterer (DE) and Nick Tandy (GB). It is the 19th pole position for the 919 Hybrid since its race debut in 2014 and the fourth in 2017.
“It could be any conditions for the race tomorrow, perhaps even with monsoon conditions coming,” commented Hartley. “This one point we got for pole position today could prove to be very crucial in the fight for the championship title. Lap times in qualifying were pretty close and we are obviously very happy with the result.”
The weather situation in Japan remains the main topic of the seventh of nine rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). With the track being wet at varying levels in all practice sessions, it was difficult to get the cars’ set-up right. To avoid an approaching downpour, qualifying was advanced by half an hour but it still rained. For the race on Sunday, 11:00-17:00 hrs local time, more rain is forecast.
Qualifying drivers this time were Bamber and Hartley for car number 2. The average of their best lap times was 1:35.160 minutes. Lotterer and Tandy at the wheel of car number 1 came second with an average lap time of 1:35.231 minutes. The overall fastest lap on the 4.56 kilometre long speedway in the foothills of Mount Fuji was recorded by Tandy in 1:35.068 minutes. Free practice three on Saturday morning saw the two 919 Hybrids finishing second and third.
Ahead of the Japanese round of the world championship, Porsche leads the manufacturers’ classification on 243 points, followed by Toyota (168.5 points). In the drivers’ championship, Bamber/Bernhard/Hartley have scored 160 points, having won at Le Mans, the Nürburgring, in Mexico City and in Austin. Should they finish the race ahead of Toyota drivers Sébastien Buemi (CH) and Kazuki Nakajima (JP), who each have 108 points, they become the new world champions. Timo Bernhard did not drive today.
Qualifying results:
1st #2 Porsche (Bernhard/Bamber/Hartley) 1min 35.160secs
2nd #1 Porsche (Jani/Lotterer/Tandy) +0.071secs
3rd #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.195secs
4th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +1.470secs
5th #13 Rebellion (Beche/Heinemeier Hansson/Piquet) +9.036secs
6th #31 Rebellion (Canal/Prost/Senna) +9.765secs
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