Interlagos WEC: Alex Wurz gives Toyota its first pole
Toyota driver Alex Wurz snatched pole position for Saturday's Sao Paulo 6 Hours on his first flying lap of World Endurance Championship qualifying
Wurz set a time of 1m22.871s aboard the solo TS030 Hybrid to claim pole from sportscar newcomer Lucas di Grassi in the Audi R18 ultra around the 2.68-mile Interlagos circuit.
The Austrian then shaved half a second from his time to record a 1m22.363s on his second lap to go nearly eight tenths clear at the head of the timesheets and give Toyota's current programme its first pole.
"I am very pleased to bring home this pole position," said Wurz, who share the TS030 with Nicolas Lapierre.
"We said at the beginning of this project that if in year one we could make a pole, it would be a dream.
"We are using new technology in a car made against the clock, so with this gap I am extremely happy."
Wurz dedicated his pole to ex-Formula 1 medical delegate Sid Watkins, who died earlier this week at the age of 84.
Third place went to the hybrid Audi R18 e-tron quattro driven by Andre Lotterer. The German was just under two tenths shy of his team-mate.
The fastest privateer LMP1 runner was Neel Jani in the Rebellion Lola-Toyota. The Swiss shaded Danny Watts in the Strakka HPD by just over a tenth.
Honours in the closely-fought LMP2 class went to Stephane Sarrazin in the Starworks HPD. His best lap of 1m27.048s compared with John Martin's second-place time of 1m27.153s in ADR Delta's ORECA-Nissan.
Aston Martin Racing claimed its first GTE Pro class pole. Darren Turner ended up two tenths quicker than Marc Lieb in the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche.
Enrique Bernoldi took GTE Am qualifying honours in the AF Corse/Waltrip Ferrari.
Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Time 1. P1 Wurz/Lapierre Toyota 1m22.363s 2. P1 Kristensen/McNish/di Grassi Audi ultra 1m23.147s 3. P1 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer Audi e-tron 1m23.332s 4. P1 Prost/Jani Rebellion Lola-Toyota 1m23.962s 5. P1 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka HPD 1m24.089s 6. P1 Belicchi/Primat Rebellion Lola-Toyota 1m24.179s 7. P1 Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck JRM HPD 1m24.320s 8. P2 Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin Starworks HPD 1m27.048s 9. P2 Martin/Charouz/Graves ADR-Delta ORECA-Nissan 1m27.153s 10. P2 Panciatici/Ragues/Rusinov Signatech ORECA-Nissan 1m27.167s 11. P2 Baguette/Kraihamer/Brundle OAK Morgan-Nissan 1m27.275s 12. P2 Liuzzi/Rossiter/Weeda Lotus Lola-Lotus 1m27.338s 13. P2 Mailleux/Lombard/Tresson Signatech ORECA-Nissan 1m27.452s 14. P2 Zugel/Gonzalez/Julian Greaves Zytek-Nissan 1m27.769s 15. P2 Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla OAK Morgan-Nissan 1m27.818s 16. P2 Perez Companc/Minassian/Kaffer Pecom ORECA-Nissan 1m27.968s 17. P2 Holzer/Schultis/Moro Lotus Lola-Lotus 1m28.958s 18. P2 Giroix/Ihara/Deletraz Gulf Lola-Nissan 1m30.871s 19. GTE P Mucke/Turner Aston Martin 1m33.855s 20. GTE P Lieb/Lietz Felbermayer Porsche 1m34.040s 21. GTE P Fisichella/Bruni AF Ferrari 1m34.203s 22. GTE P Bertolini/Beretta AF Ferrari 1m34.733s 23. GTE A Longo/Negrao/Bernoldi AF-Waltrip Ferrari 1m34.781s 24. GTE A Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo Krohn Ferrari 1m35.401s 25. GTE A Ried/Roda/Ruberti Felbermayr Porsche 1m35.485s 26. GTE A Bornhauser/Canal/Rees Larbre Corvette 1m35.485s 27. GTE A Camathias/Palttala/Daniels JWA Porsche 1m36.800s 28. GTE A Belloc/Bourret/Gibon Larbre Corvette 1m38.792s
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