Fuji WEC pole caps off a Saturday to remember for Brendon Hartley

Autosport

Porsche drivers Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley took pole position for this weekend’s Fuji round of the World Endurance Championship.

Bamber trailed team-mate Nick Tandy after the first runs during the wet qualifying session by less than two tenths of a second.

Newly-confirmed Toro Rosso Formula 1 stand-in Hartley went quicker than Andre Lotterer to jump ahead of the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, before the German improved his time to claim back the top spot.

Hartley, who leads the WEC standings with Bamber and Timo Bernhard, responded to propel the #2 car back to the top of the timesheets.

Bamber and Hartley ended up with a two-lap average of 1m35.160s, which put them just 0.071s up on Tandy and Lotterer’s 1m35.231s.

Toyota was less than two tenths of a second behind with the #8 TS050 HYBRID qualified by Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi.

Nakajima had trailed Tandy’s session best of 1m35.068s by almost exactly two tenths and then Buemi whittled his time down to a 1m34.441s to run the Porsches close.

Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi were over a second back on their team-mates in fourth position in the #7 Toyota.

Hartley said: “That was seriously close between the two Porsches, and Buemi at the end there was on fast lap.

“The Toyota look strong on the long runs, so we are expecting a close race tomorrow.”

Nelson Piquet Jr and David Heinemeier Hansson led an LMP2 one-two for the Rebellion team.

Piquet Jr headed team-mate Bruno Senna by three tenths after the first runs and then Heinemeier Hansson had more than a second in hand over Julien Canal in the sister ORECA-Gibson 07.

That gave the #13 car a two-lap average of 1m44.196s, seven tenths clear of their team-mates.

Ho-Ping Tung and Thomas Laurent were less than a tenth back in third aboard the lead Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA

Porsche took the pole in GTE Pro, Richard Lietz and Frederic Makowiecki taking the top spot with a 1m47.533s average.

That put them four tenths up on the Ganassi Ford GT driven by Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell.

The Clearwater Ferrari team took its first GTE Am pole with Matt Griffin and Weng Sun Mok.

Qualifying result

POSCLASSDRIVERTEAMCARGAP
1LMP1T.Bernhard, E.Bamber, B.HartleyPorsche LMP TeamPorsche1m35.160s
2LMP1N.Jani, A.Lotterer, N.TandyPorsche LMP TeamPorsche0.071s
3LMP1S.Buemi, A.Davidson, K.NakajimaToyota Gazoo RacingToyota0.195s
4LMP1M.Conway, K.Kobayashi, J.M.LopezToyota Gazoo RacingToyota1.470s
5LMP2M.Beche, D.H.Hansson, N.Piquet Jr.Vaillante RebellionORECA/Gibson9.036s
6LMP2J.Canal, N.Prost, B.SennaVaillante RebellionORECA/Gibson9.765s
7LMP2H-Pin Tung, O.Jarvis, T.LaurentJackie Chan DC RacingORECA/Gibson9.918s
8LMP2N.Lapierre, G.Menezes, A.NegraoSignatech Alpine MatmutAlpine/Gibson10.767s
9LMP2D.Cheng, A.Brundle, T.GommendyJackie Chan DC RacingORECA/Gibson10.949s
10LMP2R.Rusinov, P.Thiriet, J.RossiterG-Drive RacingORECA/Gibson11.045s
11LMP2R.Gonzalez, S.Trummer, V.PetrovCEFC Manor TRS RacingORECA/Gibson12.194s
12LMP2M.Rao, B.Hanley, J-E.VergneCEFC Manor TRS RacingORECA/Gibson12.251s
13GTE ProR.Lietz, F.MakowieckiPorsche GT TeamPorsche12.417s
14LMP2F.Perrodo, M.Vaxiviere, E.CollardTDS RacingORECA/Gibson12.829s
15GTE ProA.Priaulx, H.TincknellFord Chip Ganassi Team UKFord12.858s
16GTE ProS.Mucke, O.PlaFord Chip Ganassi Team UKFord12.979s
17GTE ProD.Rigon, S.BirdAF CorseFerrari13.035s
18GTE ProM.Christensen, K.EstrePorsche GT TeamPorsche13.105s
19GTE ProN.Thiim, M.SorensenAston Martin RacingAston Martin13.418s
20GTE ProJ.Calado, A.P.GuidiAF CorseFerrari13.542s
21GTE ProD.Turner, J.AdamAston Martin RacingAston Martin13.965s
22GTE AmMok W.S., K.Sawa, M.GriffinClearwater RacingFerrari14.248s
23GTE AmC.Ried, M.Cairoli, M.DienstDempsey-Proton RacingPorsche14.574s
24GTE AmP.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.LaudaAston Martin RacingAston Martin14.624s
25GTE AmM.Hedlund, B.Barker, N.FosterGulf RacingPorsche14.706s
26GTE AmT.Flohr, F.Castellacci, M.MolinaSpirit of RaceFerrari15.637s

Fuji WEC pole caps off a Saturday to remember for Brendon Hartley

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