Brendon Hartley set a 1:46.714 in this evening’s Hypercar Hyperpole session at Bahrain to claim pole position for tomorrow’s FIA WEC season finale, leading a front-row lockout for Toyota Gazoo Racing.
Hartley’s flyer in the #8 GR010 HYBRID came with more than four minutes left on the clock. It was fast enough to put him three-tenths clear of Nyck De Vries in the sister #7 car which slotted in second moments later with a 1:47.037.
“Big thanks to my teammates for trusting me to do Qualifying,” Hartley said. “Yesterday we were not happy with the car, we’ve turned it around. It’s never perfect but I learned from Quali 1, and in Hyperpole the car came alive. It’s been a tough year for car 8 so we want to finish the year on a high.”
The second row of the grid will be occupied by the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P and the #99 Proton Competition Porsche after strong efforts from Antonio Giovinazzi and Neel Jani respectively.
The #50 AF Corse Ferrari will start fifth, eight-tenths off. Crucially though, both of the Drivers’ title-contending crews from Toyota and Ferrari (in the #7 and #50) will start ahead of the points-leading #6 Porsche which will line up sixth on the grid ahead of the #5.
A few key cars failed to make it into the top 10 shootout, including the Cadillac Racing V-Series.R which took pole last time out and both Alpine Endurance Team A424s.
After having his penultimate lap deleted for track limits, Alex Lynn pushed on his final flyer at the end of the session but would only climb to 13th from the bottom of the pile in the Cadillac.
Mick Schumacher meanwhile, ended up 17th in the #36 Alpine. The German ran wide and off-track at the final corner in the closing seconds of the session after improving through Sectors 1 and 2.
The #83 AF Corse Ferarri which won Lone Star Le Mans will also start outside the top 10 (in 12th), as will the pair of Peugeot 9X8s that set the pace in two of the three practice sessions prior to Qualifying. The #94 claimed 15th on the grid ahead of the #93 that will start last after having three of its laps deleted due to a technical infringement.
In LMGT3 United Autosports also locked out the front row with its pair of McLaren GT3 Evos with head-turning efforts from Josh Caygill and James Cottingham.
Caygill put the #95 on top, delivering United its first LMGT3 pole and McLaren its second this season (after Inception took pole at Le Mans) with a 2:02.201. But there was almost nothing to separate the two McLarens, as Cottingham placed the #59 second with a time just two thousandths off.
“We had a really good car for Quali,” Caygill said. “We worked on race set up and tyre management in practice and never showed our ultimate pace. I was happy with the lap, lost a bit at the last corner but overall it’s good.”
The top three in the class were completed by the #55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, Francois Heriau steering his 296 to a 2:02.367 in the Hyperpole shootout.
Sarah Bovy placed the Iron Dames Lamborghini on the second row in fourth with her effort, ahead of the title-winning Manthey Pure Rxcing Porsche which will start tomorrow’s race fifth.
After topping two of the three practice sessions, AKKODIS ASP only managed to sneak one of its Lexus RC F LMGT3s into Hyperpole, though Arnold Robin was unable to improve on 10th.
The #78 will start behind the Heart of Racing Aston Martin, Fuji-winning Vista AF Corse Ferrari and the pair of TF Sport Corvettes which will line up sixth through ninth.
D’Station’s Aston Martin came closest to making it into the second part of the LMGT3 sessions, qualifying 11th with a time from Clement Mateu that was just a tenth off making the cut.
Both Team WRT BMWs also failed to make it through, along with the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche and both Proton Ford Mustangs.
“It’s unfortunate, but we’re closer than we looked in FP3. Hopefully tomorrow it comes easier,” Sean Gelael said after his teammate Darren Leung qualified 12th in the #31 BMW.
Tomorrow’s eight-hour WEC season finale at the Bahrain International Circuit is set to get underway at 14:00 local time.
