Alpine snatched pole position for the 8 Hours of Portimao during Qualifying today. Matthieu Vaxiviere steered the French marque’s A480 Gibson and set a 1:30.364 to narrowly take the top spot ahead of the two Toyotas. It also proved to be the first-ever pole position in the FIA WEC for a French team.
“It’s the first pole position for Alpine in the Hypercar category so we are really happy,” Vaxiviere’s teammate Nicolas Lapierre said. “He put on a second set of tyres for the lap, he pushed the car to the limit and had only one time, he pushed it and made no mistakes.
“We are happy with the pace of the car though we know Toyota can go longer on fuel in a stint. We are looking forward to the fight tomorrow. It looks like we are ok on top speed which is important.”
Vaxiviere’s time was less than a tenth faster than the quickest Toyota GR010. Brendon Hartley put the #8 on the front row with a 1:30.458, ahead of Mike Conway who put the #7 Toyota third.
This result comes after LMP2 cars set the fastest times in all free practice sessions in the lead up to Qualifying. With low fuel and fresh tyres, the Hypercars found pace.
After United Autosports ran fastest in FP2 and FP3 earlier in the day, it was JOTA’s turn to set the pace in Qualifying. Former WEC BMW factory man Tom Blomqvist set a 1:31.210 to scored the class pole, ahead of Antonia Felix Da Costa who locked out the front row for the British team.
Behind the #29 Racing Team Nederland ORECA took third and top spot in LMP2 Pro-Am after Job van Uitert’s effort. Paul Di Resta, the pacesetter in FP2 and 3, slotted in fourth in class.
“I’m ecstatic, I didn’t have a great build-up to qualifying, so I was unsure what the car was capable of. I drove messy, but it was just enough. Both cars are quick, so the team is really happy with that. Today was one part of the job, but we should be ok in the race.” Blomqvist said after the session.
In GTE Pro Kevin Estre was the star for Porsche, putting the #92 factory 911 RSR, with a 1:37.986 to lead the way, almost four-tenths clear of the competition.
“I feel good, the team gave me a great car. It wasn’t an easy qualifying, this was uncertain, I made mistakes, it was tough to get a lap together. There was a lot of heat, so I was happy to get a clean lap in with no track limit issues and no major mistakes,” Estre said after getting out of the car.
James Calado ensured it wasn’t a Porsche 1-2 in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, the Briton reeling off a 1:38.359.
The sister car meanwhile, was unable to challenge for pole. Initially, it appeared that Daniel Serra had failed to set a time. He managed just one flying lap in the session aboard the #71 AF Ferrari, but it was deleted for a track limit violation. However, the lap was reinstated after the session, which meant the car will not start at the back of the pack. We are still awaiting the final result.
In Am, the #56 Team Project 1 continued its form from FP3 and took class pole after Egidio Perfetti’s 1:40.191. Christian Ried also showed off the Porsche’s pace, and put the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche second in the class, locking out the front row for the German marque.
Completing the top five were a trio of Ferraris, the No. 47 Cetilar 488 leading the #54 AF Corse Ferrari and #85 Iron Lynx example.
It was a disappointing session for the three Aston Martin customer teams meanwhile, the best of the three, D’Station’s Vantage – ended up eighth in class. The Vantage AMR looks to be struggling in the Portuguese heat this weekend.
Tomorrow’s race is set to start at 11:00 am local time.
