Ferrari claims critical GTE Pole; Aston Martin take 7th Am pole point of the season

Ferrari came out on top after another closely fought LMGTE Pro qualifying session at the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain this evening.

Davide Rigon and Sam Bird took their fourth pole position of the 2017 FIA WEC campaign to ensure that Rigon’s slight title chances remained.
The No.71 AF Corse Ferrari took the pole with an average of 1m56.033s. Rigon set a sensational best outright lap of 1m47.058 to set a new qualifying record in class with the Ferrari 488GTE.

Lining up alongside the Ferrari will be the No.97 Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE as it bows out this weekend after a glorious WEC career.

Darren Turner and Jonny Adam set an average of 1m56.372s, while No.67 Ford GT duo of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell placed third, as the British pair set about hunting down title rivals -  James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi - who start just one place behind in their No.51 AF Corse Ferrari.

Porsche duo Frederic Makowiecki and Richard Lietz finish sixth as they look to reduce the two point deficit to Calado and Pier Guidi in points table.

Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana take seventh pole position from nine races and extend lead in title stakes to 11 points.

Lamy and Dalla Lana set average lap time of 2m00.111s, with Lamy peaking on category best of 1m59.328s.

Close session sees Clearwater Racing miss out on pole by just 0.17s as Weng Sun Mok and Matt Griffin set an average of 2m00.285s in their Ferrari 488GTE.

Dempsey Proton Racing starts third as Christian Ried, Matteo Cairoli and Marvin Dienst look to reduce 11-point gap to No.98. Aston Martin drivers

The Headlines from LMGTE Qualifying 
•    LMGTE Pro pole falls to Ferrari as Davide Rigon and Sam Bird combine to seal fourth pole of the 2017 season
•    Rigon sets fastest time overall on 1m56.021s as he and Bird take top spot by 0.3seconds with average of 1m56.033s
•    Additional point assists Rigon’s outside chance of unlikely title glory in race tomorrow 
•    Aston Martin second with No.97 Vantage V8 of Darren Turner and Johnny Adam combining to set 1m56.372s average
•    Ford place third as Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell start just ahead of title rivals Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado in fourth
•    No.98 Aston Martin pairing of Paul Dalla Lana and Pedro Lamy claim seventh LMGTE Am pole position point of the season 
•    Pair extend their title advantage to 11 points as they set a 2m00.111s average 
•    Clearwater Racing Ferrari take second as Weng Sun Mok and Matt Griffin just miss out on pole by 0.1s
•    Gulf Racing unable to take part in qualifying after Free Practice fire damage has to be prepared
•    Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain scheduled to begin at 16.00 local time Saturday afternoon

#6hBahrain LMGTE-Am Pole belongs to #98 @AMR_Official #PaulDallaLana #MathiasLauda @PedroLamyRacing. Congratulations!!#WEC pic.twitter.com/AMWIdBoeCB

— FIA WEC (@FIAWEC) November 17, 2017