15.04.2023 - 17h00

Pole for Toyota at Portimao; LMP2 falls to Prema by 0.001s; Corvette on top in LMGTE AM

Brendon Hartley and Kamui Kobayashi claimed Toyota’s 20th ever WEC front row lockout to ensure they start 1-2 for tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Portimao, the second round of the 2023 FIA WEC.

The Kiwi driver scorched to a best lap of 1m30.171 in the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid to beat his stablemate and boss Kobayashi by 0.273 seconds.

The two Ferrari 499Ps will start from the second row of the grid, with the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse driven by Nicklas Nielsen in third place with a best lap of 1m31.596.

James Calado took fourth, ahead of the No. 6 Porsche 963 Hypercar driven by Kevin Estre, while Nico Mueller in the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 took sixth place.

LMP2 saw high-drama as Mirko Bortolotti fought back from technical issues and one of his laps being deleted to take the category pole by 0.001s, the smallest margin ever for pole in LMP2. It was also Prema's first ever WEC pole.

LMGTE Am fell to Ben Keating, who avenged losing a Sebring pole to the Iron Dames Porsche by claiming top spot in Portugal.

Below are the main headlines from Qualifying at Portimao:

Hypercar – Pole: Brendon Hartley – Toyota Gazoo Racing

Toyota Gazoo Racing dominates qualifying as No.8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar claims first pole position of season.
Brendon Hartley just beats the sister Toyota driven by Kamui Kobayashi on a lap of 1m30.171s to beat stablemate by 0.273s
No.50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P will start tomorrow's race in third position as Nicklas Nielsen sets best lap of 1m31.596s.
Ferrari AF Corse locks out second row of the grid as James Calado qualifies No.51 Ferrari 499P fourth.
Porsche Penske places fifth and seventh as Kevin Estre and Frederic Makowiecki work the wheel in qualifying.
No. 94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 Hypercar is sixth as Nico Mueller peaks on a 1m32.517s best.
The Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar driven by Richard Westbrook places in eighth position.
The second Peugeot 9X8 driven by Paul di Resta is ninth ahead of the Glickenhaus and Floyd Vanwall entries.

Toyota takes a 1-2 in the Hypercar class with the #8 in pole position as Brendon Hartley clocks a 1:30.171 #WEC #6HPortimao @BrendonHartley @TGR_WEC pic.twitter.com/X5AA7YyMMS
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) April 15, 2023

LMP2 - Pole: Mirko Bortolotti – Prema Racing

Mirko Bortolotti takes dramatic pole in LMP2 after going from the back to the front in last ditch pole lap
The No.63 Prema started the session being worked on in pit lane after late issue as session began
Bortolotti then sees a lap deleted before pipping Vector Sport car of Gabriel Aubry by 0.001s with a 1m34.303s best
But incident in pit lane as session started is placed under investigation
Aubry continued excellent form after topping two of the free practice sessions but loses out on pole by the slenderest of margins.
The No.48 Jota entered Oreca-Gibson will start tomorrow’s race in third place ahead of the Inter Europol Competition car as Albert Costa peaked in qualifying on a 1m34.586s
United Autosports sister cars will start sixth and seventh, Phil Hanson in the No. 22 car was given a penalty by the stewards of three grid positions following qualifying after the car “slowed significantly after the finish line and unnecessarily impeded car No. 9”

LMGTE Am

No.33 Corvette Racing Chevrolet CorvetteC8.R with Ben Keating at the wheel takes pole position in another thrilling LMGTE Am qualifying session.
Keating laps in 1m41.362s to wrest the top spot from Sebring pole sitter Sarah Bovy.
Iron Dames Porsche places second as Bovy misses out by just 0.217s to Keating.
Third is the No.21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo driven by Diego Alessi who was in contention for pole throughout the session on first appearance of the season.
No.54 AF Corse Ferrari of Thomas Flohr qualifies well in fourth position despite having one of his laps deleted.
Highest placed Aston Martin is Ahmed Al Harthy in the Oman Racing Team by TF Sport in fifth place.