Porsche had been on the pace all weekend, and it continued in the Qualifying Session. The #14 919 of Neel Jani and Romain Dumas took pole for the German marque, with a stellar average of 1:43.145 – a combined time that Toyota just couldn’t match.
Eight of the nine LMP1 runners made it out for the session, after the #1 continues it’s rebuilding process, issues with damaged monocoques have plagued the team all weekend.
“They (#1 Audi) just can’t make it for qualifying,” explained Wolfgang Ullrich. “We couldn’t get the rebuild done before the session so we decided to build up the car properly for the race.
“After yesterday’s session we found more damage on the monocoque. We didn’t want to take any risks so we decided to rebuild the car. It’s more important to have everything done for tomorrow, instead of hurrying the process ahead of qualifying and taking risks.”
For safety reasons, the #1 will start at the rear of the LMP1 runners for the race tomorrow, not at the back of the entire field.
Anthony Davidson set the first quick time of the session – a 1:42.500 – in the #8 TS040, but was immediately bettered by a mind-bogglingly quick lap by Neel Jani, who put the #14 Porsche on top with a 1:41.897. It would set the team up for pole right from the beginning, as nobody else came close to such a tour.
Jani then backed off before handing over to Dumas for the second half of the session. Davidson was quick for the #8 squad, but Sébastian Buemi couldn’t find the same pace when he took over. The championship leaders finished the session on the front row still, with an average of 1:43.410, over half a second clear of all the others in the class.
Third in LMP1 was the second of the Porsches – the #20, which managed to climb up the order in the end with Brendon Harltley lapping quickly. He had a shot at pole, but the team aborted his final lap, which solidified the #14’s position at the top.
Behind was the second #7 Toyota and #2 Audi, neither looked to challenge the top three. The R18 struggled especially, with André Lotterer and Marcel Fässler finishing the session with an average over two seconds off the pace.
Rebellion Racing took a 1-2 in LMP1 L, the #12 heading the class, the best average from the Swiss crew a 1:47.047.
In LMP2 G-Drive’s Ligier took control early and didn’t reliquish the lead. Romain Rusinov and Olivier Pla put the JS P2 on top with an average that was over seven tenths faster than the two SMP Racing Orecas which sat second and third, the #27 ending the session marginally quicker than the #37.
The race is set to begin at 12:00 UK time tomorrow, with the six hours running under floodlights in Bahrain.
Stephen Kilbey
