Photo: Fabrizio Boldoni/DPPI
Ferrari will start the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship season from pole position after Antonio Giovinazzi beat BMW’s Dries Vanthoor in qualifying for the Qatar 1812km.
Giovinazzi steered the No. 51 Ferrari 499P to a best lap of 1:38.359 in the closing moments of the ten-minute Hyperpole session at the Lusail International Circuit, outpacing Vanthoor’s No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 by 0.136 seconds.
Antonio Fuoco slotted into third aboard the No. 50 Ferrari, with the two Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.Rs completing the overall top five in the hands of Alex Lynn and Sebastien Bourdais, respectively.
Robin Frijns picked up sixth in the No. 2o BMW, ahead of the sole Toyota GR010 Hybrid to make it through into Hyperpole in the hands of Nyck de Vries.
The No. 8 sister car, driven by Brendon Hartley, spun in the opening segment of qualifying and was knocked out as a result, qualifying last.
The overall top ten was rounded out by the No. 83 Ferrari of Robert Kubica, ahead of the No. 35 Alpine A424 piloted by Charles Milesi and the Jean-Eric Vergne-driven No. 94 Peugeot 9X8.
The first stage of qualifying also notably saw both Penske Porsche 963s knocked out, while the No. 36 Alpine A424 was also eliminated along with both of the debuting Aston Martin Valkyries.
Gelael Leads McLaren 1-2 in LMGT3 Qualifying
Sean Gelael fronted a United Autosports 1-2 in LMGT3 qualifying, which saw Silver drivers take part in the Hyperpole session for the first time.
A rules change for LMGT3 qualifying meant that Bronze-rated drivers tackled the first segment, where they would attempt to push through into Hyperpole. Their Silver-rated co-drivers would then take over for the second half.
After the No. 95 McLaren 720s GT3 Evo placed first in the opening segment of qualifying in the hands of Darren Leung, Gelael then did the same in Hyperpole with a 1:54.239.
That allowed him to outpace the No. 59 sister car of Sebastien Baud by 0.239 seconds, with Finn Gehrsitz third in the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3.
Francesco Castellacci completed the second row of the LMGT3 grid in the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, with Simon Mann rounding out the overall top five aboard the sister No. 21 machine.
Clemens Schmid jumped up from last to sixth with a last-gasp effort aboard the No. 87 Lexus.
The top ten was completed by Heart of Racing Team’s Zach Robichon, Team WRT driver Valentino Rossi, the No. 81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Gt3.R and Proton Competition’s No. 88 Ford Mustang GT3 in the hands of Giammarco Levorato.
Notably, both Manthey Racing cars missed out on Hyperpole after both Ryan Hardwick and Celia Martin were knocked out.
The same goes for TF Sport driver Ben Keating, as well as Team WRT’s Yasser Shahin.
The Qatar 1812km starts Friday at 2 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET).
RESULTS: Qualifying
