Toyota and Lamborghini-Iron Dames will start from the Hyperpole in the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, the fifth event of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season, which saw its protagonists battle it out in the very close timed trials.
Between Qualifying and the subsequent lead-chasing session, there was no shortage of excitement and even a few twists on an afternoon that still featured cloudy skies and temperatures around 15°C when the green light was given first to the LMGT3s and then to the HYPERCARs.
#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
HYPERCAR: Japanese paw
Toyota returns with a strong competitive streak in the assault on the Hyperpole, occupying the entire front row of the grid.
Kamui Kobayashi stopped the clocks at 1’23″140 with his GR010 Hybrid #7, 0″122 ahead of the twin #8 of Sébastien Buemi, who managed to close in on the team leader just towards the end.
Third place instead for Porsche, with Matt Campbell as its best driver, 0″191 behind with the 963 #5, while the #6 of Kévin Estre is fifth at 0″268.
Among the German LMDh cars managed by Team Penske, the #2 Cadillac of Alex Lynn slipped in, while a rather tight session saw the Ferraris obtain only sixth and ninth places, respectively with Antonio Fuoco and Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Between the 499Ps #50 and #51 are the #12 and #38 Jota Porsches in the hands of Callum Ilott and Jenson Button, the best of the privateer teams category. Robin Frijn’s #20 BMW completes the list with the 10th fastest time.
Campbell had set the limit at 1’23″263 in the first part of the session, where the Top 10 passed the round covered by just 0″476. The two Alpines of Mick Schumacher and Charles Milesi remained outside of it, both 0″6 slower and placed 11th and 13th.
Among the A424s, Julien Andlauer placed himself in the #99 Porsche of Proton Competition, while Dries Vanthoor and Robert Shwartzman were very disappointing, only 14th and 15th with their respective #15 BMWs and #83 Ferraris prepared by AF Corse, both 0″8 behind the leader.
Very badly, as often happens in qualifying, the Peugeots of Paul Di Resta and Jean-Eric Vergne in 16th and 17th place, followed by the Lamborghini #63 of Daniil Kvyat and Jean-Karl Vernay in an Isotta Fraschini who closed the list 1″6 from the lead and less than 0″4 from the SC63, in what was certainly an excellent performance for the Tipo 6-C.
#85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2: Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
LMGT3: The usual Bovy plays them to everyone
In the LMGT3 class, the usual uncatchable Sarah Bovy dictated the law in both sessions, scoring another great Hyperpole with the #85 Lamborghini.
The Iron Dames driver lapped in 1:34.413 in her assault on the top spot, clearly outpacing the Porsche of Alex Malykhin (#92 Manthey Pure Rxcing) by 0.391 and the United Autosports McLarens driven by Josh Caygill and James Cottingham by 0.4.
Top 5 for Yasser Shahin in the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche, who was the first to take more than a second off the Belgian, but still held off the BMW of Darren Leung (#31 Team WRT) and the #55 AF Corse Ferrari with François Heriau on top.
Behind the Frenchman we find Tom Van Rompuy in the #81 TF Sport Corvette and Ian James at the wheel of the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin.
Forced to settle for tenth on the grid, Thomas Flohr spun out at the exit of Turn 4 at the start of the session, betrayed by cold tyres and causing the red flag.
The Swiss AF Corse driver, although he managed to restart after several minutes with his Ferrari 296 #54, was not allowed to return to the track, having caused the interruption.
In the first 12-minute heat, where the best time was set by Bovy in 1’35″299 on the last available attempt, the first to be eliminated by almost 6 hundredths was Ryan Hardwick, who will therefore start 11th at the wheel of the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang, alongside the #46 Team WRT BMW driven by Ahmad Al Harthy.
Also out is the #82 TF Sport Corvette driven by Hiroshi Koizumi and Clément Mateu in the #777 D’Station Racing Aston Martin, who will share the seventh row of the grid, followed by Takeshi Kimura in the only surviving Akkodis-ASP Lexus and the Lamborghini of Claudio Schiavoni (#60 Iron Lynx), who this time will not be the tail light because behind him is the #88 Mustang of Christian Ried (Proton Competition), who is 2.7″ behind the leader when he returns to action for this event.
The 6h of Sao Paulo is scheduled for Sunday at 16:30 Italian time.
HYPERPOLE HYPERCAR
HYPERCAR QUALIFICATIONS
HYPERPOLE LMGT3
QUALIFYING LMGT3
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