Aston Martin Racing took pole in both the GTE Pro and Am classes once again under the floodlights of the Sakhir Circuit in Bahrain. Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner led the way in the #97 Vantage, scoring their second GTE pole of the season with an average of 1:58.805 while the sister #95 Vantage took pole in Am.
There was a slight delay from the teams at the start of the session, most hesitating to exit the pit lane, but when they did it created a quick flurry of times with Mücke throwing down the gauntlet early with a 1:58.122 on his first flyer before handing over to Turner to finish the job.
The challenge to the British marque came in the form of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari as expected, Gianmaria Bruni was rapid and went quicker than Mücke, but in then end it wasn’t enough. Toni Vilander climbed aboard and was on pace to take pole before making an error at the very end of his final lap, which brought the average for the 458 down to 1:59.075 – just over two tenths slower than the #97. It’s a disappointment for the crew who are looking to wrap up the title this weekend.
Third in class was the #71 AF Corse Ferrari, Davide Rigon and James Colado a respectable four tenths off the lead Aston. The #99 crew managed fourth in Pro, ahead of the two trailing factory Porsche 991s who struggled mightily, the #91 coming in ahead of the #92 in 5th and 6th.
“It was a good start to the race weekend, we are always good here at Bahrain,” said Mücke. “The car was perfect, we made the fight tyre choice, in the end the average was good after two great laps from Darren.”
“We’ve got a game-plan which we hope will go well in the race, as it didn’t go to plan in Shanghai, we feel very fired up as a team,” added Turner.
In Am Aston Martin finished 1-2 with the #95 Vantage of Nicki Thiim and Kristian Poulsen managing an average of 1:59.589 ahead of the #98’s 1:59.721 after Christopher Nygaard and Pedro Lamys combined times. Third sat the #61 AF Corse Ferrari, in a welcome return to the series, a further three tenths back from the Dane-train.
Stephen Kilbey
