Matt Campbell in the No.5 Porsche Penske 963 Hybrid Hypercar took the first ever Porsche FIA WEC pole position with a stunning 1m39.347s lap in the dying seconds of a thrilling Hyperpole session this evening in Qatar.
The Australian’s time eclipsed the No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry driven by Nyck de Vries by 0.164s in a session that went right to the chequered flag.
The first ever Hyperpole session outside of the 24 Hours of Le Mans witnessed Porsche’s first WEC top class pole since Bahrain 2017, their last race with the Porsche 919 LMP1 Hybrid.
Hypercar Hyperpole Results:
1 PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT #5 1:39.347
2 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING #7 1:39.511 +0.164
3 HERTZ TEAM JOTA #12 1:39.622 +0.275
4 FERRARI AF CORSE #50 1:39.976 +0.629
5 PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT #6 1:39.981 +0.634
6 PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES #93 1:40.067 +0.720
7 CADILLAC RACING #2 1:40.103 +0.756
8 FERRARI AF CORSE #51 1:40.224 +0.877
9 HERTZ TEAM JOTA #38 1:40.362 +1.015
10 PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES #94 1:40.504 +1.157
LMGT3 pole position for TF Sport Corvette
The TF Sport run No.81 Corvette ZO6 LMGT3 car driven by Tom van Rompuy took the first ever LMGT3 pole position in Qatar this evening by setting pole lap of 1m54.372s.
The Belgian took a conclusive Hyperpole beating the Aliaksander Malykhin driven No.92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 LMGT3 by 0.8s.
The pole was not only the 10th qualifying success for TF Sport in the WEC but it also meant that Corvette became the first brand to claim a pole in all three GT classes that have raced in the WEC.
Tomorrow’s Qatar Airways Qatar 1812km will get underway at 11am local time.
LMGT3 Hyperpole Results
1 TF SPORT #81 1:54.372
2 MANTHEY PURERXCING #92 1:55.179 +0.807
3 VISTA AF CORSE #54 1:55.182 +0.810
4 D’STATION RACING #777 1:55.184 +0.812
5 HEART OF RACING TEAM #27 1:55.320 +0.948
6 IRON DAMES #85 1:55.340 +0.968
7 UNITED AUTOSPORTS #59 1:55.524 +1.152
8 UNITED AUTOSPORTS #95 1:55.836 +1.464
9 TEAM WRT #46 1:56.028 +1.656
10 VISTA AF CORSE #55 1:56.596 +2.224