Allan McNish gives hybrid Audi e-tron first pole in qualifying for Spa World Endurance Championship round
Allan McNish claimed a debut pole position aboard the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro for Saturday's Spa 6 Hours round of the FIA World Endurance Championship
The Scot set a best time of 2m01.578s on his second flying lap in the hybrid Audi. That put him just over half a second clear of Marco Bonanomi in the best of the non-hybrid R18 ultras.
McNish, who won the opening WEC round at Sebring with Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello, said: "It is quite a big day for Audi because it has given us our first milestone pole with the e-tron technology. It was quite special for me in particular because myself, Dindo and Tom also took the first pole for the Audi diesel car [at Sebring in 2006]."
Audi blocked out the front two rows of the grid. Marcel Fassler ended up third in the second hybrid R18, while Loic Duval was the final Audi qualifier in the second conventional turbodiesel.
Neel Jani headed the petrol-powered privateers in the best of the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota coupes. His 2m04.234s lap was nearly three seconds slower than the Audi pole time.
Australian John Martin claimed pole position at the head of the 18-car LMP2 field. His time of 2m09.302s in the ADR-Delta ORECA-Nissan 03 gave him the pole by just four hundredths of a second from James Rossiter in the fastest of the Lotus LMP2 team's two Lolas.
GTE Pro honours went to Frederic Makowiecki in the Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 Italia. The Frenchman ended up four tenths ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella in the lead AF Corse Ferrari.
Imsa Porsche driver Nicolas Armindo pipped Marco Cioci's AF Corse Ferrari to the GTE-Am class pole.
Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Time 1. P1 Capello/Kristensen/McNish Audi (e-tron) 2m01.579s 2. P1 Bonanomi/Jarvis Audi 2m02.093s 3. P1 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer Audi (e-tron) 2m02.232s 4. P1 Dumas/Duval/Gene Audi 2m02.705s 5. P1 Prost/Jani/Heidfeld Rebellion Lola-Toyota 2m04.234s 6. P1 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka HPD 2m04.636s 7. P1 Belicchi/Primat Rebellion Lola-Toyota 2m05.078s 8. P1 Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck JRM HPD 2m06.946s 9. P1 Bourdais/Minassian Pescarolo Dome-Judd 2m06.954s 10. P1 Moreau/Baguette/Kraihamer OAK Pescarolo-Judd 2m07.504s 11. P2 Martin/Kerr/Graves ORECA-Nissan 2m09.302s 12. P2 Moro/Weeda/Rossiter Lotus Lola 2m09.343s 13. P2 Dolan/Hancock Jota Zytek-Nissan 2m09.634s 14. P2 Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla OAK Morgan-Judd 2m09.656s 15. P2 Holzer/Schultis/van der Zande Lotus Lola 2m09.833s 16. P2 Perez Companc/Ayari/Kaffer ORECA-Nissan 2m09.965s 17. P2 Zugel/Gonzalez/Julian Greaves Zytek-Nissan 2m10.656s 18. P2 Heinemeir Hansson/Leinders OAK Morgan-Judd 2m10.875s 19. P2 Clarke/Briere/Petersen Boutsen Ginion ORECA-Nissan 2m11.052s 20. P2 Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin HPD ARX 03b-Honda 2m11.185s 21. P2 Firth/Hughes/Hartley Murphy ORECA-Nissan 2m11.266s 22. P2 Panciatici/Ragues/Rusinov Signatech ORECA-Nissan 2m11.520s 23. P2 Frey/Hirschi/Meichtry Race Performance ORECA-Judd 2m11.667s 24. P2 Mailleux/Lombard/Tresson Signatech ORECA-Nissan 2m12.078s 25. P2 Giroix/Jousse/Johansson Gulf Lola-Nissan 2m14.297s 26. P2 Fatien/Ihara/Deletraz Gulf Lola-Nissan 2m15.537s 27. P2 Thirion/Haezebrouck Extreme Limite Norma-Judd 2m17.810s 28. GTE P Makowiecki/Melo Luxury Ferrari 2m19.770s 29. GTE P Fisichella/Bruni AF Corse Ferrari 2m20.143s 30. GTE P Fernandez/Mucke/Turner Aston Martin 2m20.227s 31. GTE P Lieb/Lietz Felbermayr Porsche 2m20.251s 32. GTE P Bertolini/Beretta AF Corse Ferrari 2m20.885s 33. GTE A Armindo/Narac/Pons Imsa Porsche 2m21.640s 34. GTE A Perazzini/Cioci/Griffin AF Corse Ferrari 2m21.975s 35. GTE A Ehret/Montecalvo/Jeannette Luxury Ferrari 2m22.062s 36. GTE A Bornhauser/Canal/Rees Larbre Corvette 2m22.534s 37. GTE A Belloc/Bourret Larbre Corvette 2m22.542s 38. GTE A Kauffman/Vickers/Aguas AF Waltrip Ferrari 2m23.116s 39. GTE A Camathias/Palttala/Daniels JWA Porsche 2m24.035s 40. GTE A Ried/Roda/Ruberti Felbermayr Porsche 2m25.358s 41. GTE A Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo Krohn Ferrari 2m26.763s
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