Rebellion Racing takes first overall pole in Shanghai; Porsche front both GTE classes

BREAKING: first NON-HYBRID pole position since the very first WEC in 2012!

Congratulations to the No. 1 @RebellionRacing crew, @followgustavo @BSenna @NatoNorman! Good job, guys!#4HShanghai #WEC pic.twitter.com/2UOHYkQolw

— WEC (@FIAWEC) November 9, 2019

LMP1

• Rebellion Racing take first ever overall pole position as North and South American pairing of Gustavo Menezes and Bruno Senna set average best time of 1:45.892.
• Qualifying session saw first three grid positions filled by non-hybrid cars for the first time since introduction of hybrid power in 2012.
• Senna sets fastest overall time of 1:45.778 in No.1 Rebellion R13-Gibson. 
• Team LNT starts second and third with AER-engined No.6 Ginetta heading No.5 sister car.
• Charlie Robertson and Michael Simpson combine and, despite a late spin from Simpson, they start from the front row alongside Rebellion.
• Egor Orudzhev and Ben Hanley combine to place third in No.5 Ginetta.
• No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing car driven by Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi starts fourth; No.8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID places fifth – both cars being slowed in one-lap pace by Success Handicap thanks to victories in Silverstone and Fuji. 

LMGTE Pro

• No.92 Porsche 911 RSR claims pole in LMGTE Pro as Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen combine to average 1:59.579 and take their first pole of Season 8 in very close qualifying session.  
• Estre sets fastest overall lap with a 1:59.024 best for Porsche’s first ever GTE Pro pole in Shanghai.
• Aston Martin Racing takes second as Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen in the No.95 entry combine to set an average time of 1:59.597 just 0.018s ahead of nearest rivals.
• AMR place second and third as No.97 Vantage AMR of Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin are just 0.01s back from stablemates.
• No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi starts fourth in class.

LMP2

• LMP2 sees Cool Racing take first ever WEC pole as Nicolas Lapierre and Antonin Borga average 1:48.649 in the No.42 ORECA 07 Gibson.  Lapierre’s time of 1:48.089 is a new qualifying record for the WEC in Shanghai. 
• Second in LMP2 is the No.37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Will Stevens and Gabriel Aubry combine for 1:48.775 – last year’s winners being the best placed Goodyear-shod entry. 
• Just two tenths of a second behind was the No.22 United Autosports ORECA of Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque. 

The highlights of the #4HShanghai qualifying sessions.

Pole sitters:

LMP1: @RebellionRacing #1
LMGTE-Pro: @PorscheRaces #92
LMP2: @coolracingleman #42
LMGTE-Am: @Project1_93 #56#WEC pic.twitter.com/5CxIxolowv

— WEC (@FIAWEC) November 9, 2019

LMGTE Am

• No.56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR tops LMGTE Am as Matteo Cairoli and Egidio Perfetti combine with an average best of 2:00.824.
• Cairoli sets best lap of 2:00.031 and the Norwegian/Italian alliance takes first pole of Season 8.
• Second in LMGTE Am is the No.98 Aston Martin Racing entry with Paul Dalla Lana and Ross Gunn combining for a time of 2:01.528.  This is the first time since 2013 that Aston Martin Racing has not claimed class pole in Shanghai.
• No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche starts third ahead of No.90 TF Sport Aston Martin which claimed pole at the two previous rounds. 

Be cool. Be Fast. Be First. And...be on pole! Great job by @Project1_93 No.56 drivers - Egidio Perfetti, @dhh and @Cairoli96 who claimed the LMGTE-Am pole in Shanghai!#WEC #4HShanghai pic.twitter.com/VtYYUVFoK8

— WEC (@FIAWEC) November 9, 2019

Full classifications can be found HERE.  The 4 Hours of Shanghai is due to start tomorrow, Sunday 10 November at 12 noon local time and all the action can be found on the FIA WEC App by clicking HERE.