Qualifying LMGTE: Turner and Bernoldi claim GTE poles at Interlagos

For the first time this weekend the sun shone as the LMGTE competitors headed out for the 20 minute qualifying session.  Darren Turner was the first on track in the No.97 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 and used the clear air to set the benchmark time for the others to try and match.  Turner’s time was soon beaten by Marc Lieb in the No.77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche  but Turner regained the advantage with a 1m33.855 lap and took the LMGTE Pro pole position ahead of Lieb and Giancarlo Fisichella in the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari.

In the LMGTE Am class it was a good day for Brazil when Enrique Bernoldi scored a pole position on his FIA WEC debut  in the No.61 AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari with a lap of 1m34.781.  It was a Ferrari class 1-2 with the No.57 Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 of Michele Rugolo finishing the 20-minute session 0.6 seconds behind Bernoldi, with the No.88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche of Paolo Ruberti in third.

Darren Turner, No.97 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin V8: “It was obviously important to qualify on pole and it was certainly the aim, but I wasn’t really expecting it. Our lap times were slower this morning because of the ambient track temperatures, so we weren’t really sure what to expect this afternoon. Our car does perform well in the higher temperatures and it’s now hotter than we’ve seen all week, so I think it worked in our favour. It’s great to be on pole and the team should be pleased with themselves, they’ve once again done a great job in preparing the car.”

Enrique Bernoldi, No.61 AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari 458 Italia:  "This pole means a lot for me because it’s my first race in the FIA World Endurance Championship and I grabbed pole position!  When I last raced on this track, in FIA GT1, I also got pole and the next day I won the race so it’s perhaps a good sign.  My biggest worry was the traffic because the LMP1 and LMP2 cars come up on us very quickly.  Our car performs very well in terms of fuel economy.  In any case, I’ve got nothing to lose so I’m going to try and win the race but it’s a long one.  We have to go for it but must save our tyres, plus we don’t know the car very well."

CLICK HERE for the result from Qualifying

TRACK DATA
Air t° :22.5°C
Track t° :31.7°C
Wind :SE at 11.3 kph
Humidity :72%

LMGTE QUALIFYING FACTS
18:58:03 There is sunshine on the Interlagos circuit for qualifying that starts in 3 minutes time.
19:01:04 GTE qualifying - green flag
19:07:21 First on track is #57 Ferrari followed by #97 Aston Martin
19:09:07 Darren Turner in #97 Aston Martin crosses the start-finish line on first flying lap of session
19:14:19 Marc Lieb sets fastest time in #77 Porsche but stolen back the next lap by Darren Turner in 1:33.855 in Aston Martin #97
19:16:40 Fastest in LMGTE Am currently #61 AF Corse - Waltrip Ferrari 1:34.860
19:18:27 Porsche #55 into tyres in turn 4 - yellow flag
19:20:40 Chequered flag

Jeff Carter

Photo: INTERLAGOS (SAO PAULO, BRAZIL), AUTODROMO JOSE CARLOS PACE, 6 HOURS OF SAO PAULO, THURSDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER 2012, FREE PRACTICE.  The No.97 Aston Martin Vantage V8 of Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke.