Bernhard gives Audi pole at Spa
Timo Bernhard gave Audi's new R18 TDI pole position for its race debut at the Spa 1000km, the second round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup
Bernhard's lap of 2m01.502s was set early in the session and gave the German the top top spot by 0.286s ahead of Andre Lotterer. It was an all-Audi top three as Tom Kristensen qualified third.
As planned, none of the factory Peugeots took to the track until late on, but all three were caught out as Matthieu Lahaye crashed his Oak Pescarolo on the straight before Pouhon.
The high-speed impact caused heavy damage to the front end of the car and brought out the red flags. With the crash barrier in question significantly damaged and no chance of repairing quickly, a decision was taken to end the session while six minutes remained on the clock.
This ensured that Marc Gene was unable to improve on his 13th spot on the grid, and left him as the best of the factory Peugeot drivers. Simon Pagenaud was only 18th while Stephane Sarrazin did not complete a flying lap and will start 50th.
The early stoppage was good news for Nicolas Lapierre, who put his ORECA Peugeot fourth, ahead of Nicolas Prost's Rebellion Lola, the best-placed petrol-powered car.
Danny Watts secured pole in the LMP2 class in his Strakka HPD with a flying lap that was just 0.1s quicker than Mathias Beche's TDS ORECA.
Jaime Melo took pole in the GT2 Pro category in the AF Corse Ferrari he shares with Toni Vilander, his best effort coming six minutes from the end of the session.
Rob Bell and Giancarlo Fisichella made it an all-Ferrari top three with British driver Bell 0.2s off Melo's pace in his JMW-run 458 and grand prix winner Fisichella next up in the second AF Corse car.
Marc Lieb put the best of the Porsches - the Felbermayr car - fourth while Augusto Farfus was BMW's fastest driver in fifth. Andy Priaulx was seventh quickest in the sister M3, but spun at the Bus Stop chicane on his final flying lap.
Pole in GT2 Am went to Nicolas Armindo's IMSA Porsche - ahead of four of the Pro cars, while Brit Phil Keen was the fastest driver in the Formula Le Mans class in the Neil Garner Motorsport ORECA.
Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Time 1. LMP1 Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller Audi R18 TDI 2m01.502s 2. LMP1 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer Audi R18 TDI 2m01.788s 3. LMP1 Capello/Kristensen/McNish Audi R18 TDI 2m02.145s 4. LMP1 Lapierre/Duval/Panis ORECA Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 2m05.482s 5. LMP1 Jani/Prost Rebellion Lola-Toyota 2m06.767s 6. LMP1 Amaral/Pla Quifel-ASM Zytek 2m07.290s 7. LMP1 Collard/Tinseau/Jousse Pescarolo-Judd 2m07.528s 8. LMP1 Lahaye/Moreau/Ragues Oak Pescarolo-Judd 2m07.729s 9. LMP1 Cortes/Geri/Piccini MIK Corse Zytek-Hybrid 2m08.821s 10. LMP2 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka HPD ARX-01d 2m10.016s 11. LMP2 Beche/Thiriet/Firth TDS ORECA-Nissan 2m10.141s 12. LMP2 Mailleux/Ordonez/Ayari Signatech ORECA-Nissan 2m10.474s 13. LMP1 Gene/Wurz/Davidson Peugeot 908 2m10.725s 14. LMP2 Kraihamer/de Crem Boutsen Energy ORECA-Nissan 2m11.183s 15. LMP2 Ojjeh/Chalandon/Kimber-Smith Greaves Zytek-Nissan 2m11.218s 16. LMP2 Frey/Meichtry/Rostan Race Performance ORECA-Judd 2m11.306s 17. LMP2 Rosier/Luco/Basso Extreme Limite Norma-Judd 2m11.842s 18. LMP1 Lamy/Bourdais/Pagenaud Peugeot 908 2m12.108s 19. LMP2 Barlesi/De Roche/Lafargue Oak Pescarolo-Judd 2m12.373s 20. LMP2 Perez Companc/Russo/Kaffer Pecom Lola-Judd 2m13.584s 21. FLM Hartshorne/Keating/Keen Neil Garner ORECA 2m13.592s 22. LMP2 Tucker/Bouchut/Barbosa Level 5 Lola Coupe-HPD 2m13.851s 23. LMP2 Gates/Garofall/Philipps RLR MG Lola 2m14.122s 24. FLM Moro/Marroc/Zheng Hope ORECA 2m14.431s 25. FLM Rodrigues/Menahem/Misslin JMB ORECA 2m17.120s 26. FLM Julian/Zugel/Petersen Genoa ORECA 2m18.219s 27. FLM Schultis/Simon/Schell Pegasus ORECA 2m18.757s 28. GTE P Melo/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 2m20.743s 29. GTE P Bell/Walker JMW Ferrari 2m20.915s 30. GTE P Fisichella/Bruni AF Corse Ferrari 2m21.086s 31. GTE P Lieb/Lietz Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 2m21.291s 32. GTE P Farfus/Muller BMW M3 2m21.460s 33. GTE P Farnbacher/Simonsen Farnbacher Ferrari 2m21.779s 34. GTE P Priaulx/Alzen BMW M3 2m22.219s 35. GTE P Pilet/Henzler IMSA Performance Porsche 2m22.955s 36. GTE A Armindo/Narac IMSA Performance Porsche 2m23.007s 37. GTE P Beltoise/Jakubowski/Deletraz Luxury Racing Ferrari 2m23.063s 38. GTE A Perazzini/Cioci/Lemeret AF Corse Ferrari 2m23.269s 39. GTE A Christodoulou/Hummel/Quaife CRS Ferrari 2m23.485s 40. GTE P Goossens/Holzer Prospeed Porsche 2m23.639s 41. GTE A Giroix/Goethe/Wainwright Gulf Aston Martin 2m23.727s 42. GTE A Broniszewski/Peter Kessel Ferrari 2m24.050s 43. GTE A Felbermayr Jr/Miller Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 2m24.599s 44. GTE A Bornhauser/Canal/Gardel Larbre Porsche 2m24.773s 45. GTE P Hirschi/Rossiter/Mowlem Jetalliance Lotus Evora 2m25.124s 46. GTE A Ehret/Lynn/Wills CRS Ferrari 2m25.617s 47. GTE A Ried/Hammerson Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 2m26.797s 48. GTE P Ortelli/Makowiecki Luxury Racing Ferrari 2m27.098s 49. GTE A Krohn/Jonsson Krohn Ferrari 2m28.677s 50. LMP1 Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian Peugeot 908 no time 51. LMP1 Belicchi/Boullion Rebellion Lola-Toyota no time 52. GTE P Dolan/Hancock Jota Aston Martin no time 53. GTE A Kauffman/Aguas AF Corse Ferrari no time 54. GTE P Rich/Slingerland Jetalliance Lotus Evora no time
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