Nico Jamin emerged from a fast paced final few moments of ELMS LMP2 qualifying securing a surprise pole position in 1:34.802 during an action-packed qualifying for Round 4 of the 2022 European Le Mans Series at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.
The pace was set first by IDEC Sport’s Paul-Loup Chatin, as their #28 Oreca 07-Gibson did for FP1 and FP2, the team opting to rest on their laurels and save tyres for the expected hot weather race tomorrow.
The majority of the other contenders in the 16 car LMP2 field pitted for a second set of tyres giving most just a single flying lap to find an improvement.
In the final moments as other perhaps more fancied opposition also improved, Jamin’s #65 Panis Racing Oreca 07, his team’s first pole position since Silverstone in 2018! They’ll now target their second ELMS win in tomorrow’s 4 hour race.
Yifei Ye in the #37 Cool Racing was close behind the pole-sitter by under one-hundredths-of-a-second.
Jack Aitkin took third spot overall, and fastest in the Pro/Am sub-category with his time of 1:34.947 for the #34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca.
Behind him was the #28 IDEC Sport Oreca as they set a 1:34.976, with Alessio Rovera in the #88 AF Corse Oreca rounding off the top-five after a 1:34:995 lap time, the top five separated by under two-tenths, the top 13 within a single second.
LMP3: Jakobsen scores four out of four pole positions
Malthe Jakobsen asserted his dominance by gaining yet another ELMS pole position, the young Dane with a clean sweep in qualifying his year.
The 18-year-old’s form was carried high with a best time of 1:40.112 in his #17 Cool Racing Ligier JS P320-Nissan.
A slight step over the track limits at the final turn voided a marginally faster lap time.
The #13 Inter Europol Competition driven by another young star, Chilean racer Nico Pino, showed his pace taking second position for tomorrow’s race.
His 1:40.778 was almost three-tenths ahead of third-placed Bailey Voisin in the #2 United Autosports Ligier.
Fourth spot was taken by the other Cool Racing Ligier, the #27, in the hands of Antoine Doquin, with a 1:41.347 time.
The top-five was rounded off by the #4 DKR Engineering’s Sebastien Alvarez and his time of 1:41.347 achieved in the Duqueine M30 D08-Nissan.
LM-GTE: Al-Harthy grabs pole for Oman Racing with TF Sport
A second pole position of the season was landed by Ahmed Al-Harthy at Barcelona in his #69 Oman Racing by TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR, adding to his efforts from Monza.
His first flying lap set the pace over half a second over the other 10 cars, with a 1:46.407.
He improved his time twice during the 10-minute session, with his fastest securing the top spot in GTE with a 1:45.692.
Behind him, finishing just over three-tenths, was Sarah Bovy in the #83 Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE Evo with 1:46.038.
An Iron Dames pole looked possible after Bovy pitted for new rubber in the final stages, but a minor error on the final flying lap saw the delta time slip away, the bright pink Ferrari pitting for Bovy to be the amongst the first to congratulate Al Harthy.
Christian Reid followed with a time of 1:46.103 in his #77 Proton Porsche 911 RSR-19.
The #32 Rinaldi Racing of Diego Alessi finished fourth after setting a time of 1:46.459, with Takeshi Kimura in fifth in the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.
Round 4 of the 2022 ELMS tomorrow starts at 11h45 local with free live streamed video coverage available via Series social media and YouTube – commentary is by Jonny Palmer, DSC Editor Graham Godwin and pit reporter Hayley Edmonds.
