Andre Lotterer puts Audi on Sebring 12 Hours pole
Audi driver Andre Lotterer claimed pole position for the opening round of the new FIA World Endurance Championship at Sebring this weekend
The 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours winner jumped to the top of the timesheets with a 1m45.820s after taking a penalty for speeding in the pitlane at the start of the session. The German, who shares his Audi R18 TDI with Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, ended up four tenths of a second ahead of Audi team-mate Tom Kristensen.
Lotterer said: "The car ran well and the lap was good, so I'm pretty satisfied. I wasn't perfect around Turns 13 and 15, but it looks like the rest of the lap was better than I expected."
Romain Dumas took third place on the grid in the final Audi with a time a further seven tenths slower than Kristensen.
The top runner from the American Le Mans Series, of which this weekend's Sebring 12 Hours is also the opening round, outperformed its petrol-powered rivals in LMP1. Klaus Graf ended up fourth on the grid in the Pickett Racing Honda Performance Development ARX-03a on a 1m47.536s, which was nearly eight tenths up on the Judd-powered OAK-Pescarolo driven by Guillaume Moreau.
Olivia Pla topped the times in LMP2 in OAK Racing's Morgan-Judd on a 1m50.467s. That put him four tenths ahead of fellow Frenchman Stephane Sarrazin in the Starworks Motorsport. Elton Julian was third fastest in the Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan Z11SN a further second back.
Gianmaria Bruni ended up fastest in GTE Pro in the best of the AF Corse Ferrari 458s. His 1m58.427s was four tenths quicker than Jaime Melo in the Luxury Racing Ferrari.
The two factory Chevrolet Corvette C6.Rs were the top ALMS GT class runners in third and fourth positions in the hands of Jan Magnussen and Oliver Gavin respectively.
Dominik Farnbacher claimed the GTE Am pole for the Luxury Racing Ferrari squad. The German's 2m00.184s lap put him eight tenths ahead of the Niclas Jonsson in the Krohn Racing Ferrari 458.
Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Time 1. P1 Lotterer/Treluyer/Fassler Audi 1m45.820s 2. P1 McNish/Kristensen/Capello Audi 1m46.215s 3. P1 Bernhard/Dumas/Duval Audi 1m46.935s 4. P1 Luhr/Graf/Pagenaud Pickett HPD 1m47.536s 5. P1 Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck JRM HPD 1m48.439s 6. P1 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka HPD 1m48.590s 7. P1 Prost/Jani/Heidfeld Rebellion Lola-Toyota 1m48.630s 8. P1 Belicchi/Primat/Bleekemolen Rebellion Lola-Toyota 1m48.956s 9. P1 Collard/Boullion/Jousse Pescarolo-Judd 1m50.200s 10. P2 Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla OAK Morgan-Judd 1m50.467s 11. P2 Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin Starworks HPD 1m50.823s 12. P2 Zugel/Gonzalez/Julian Greaves Zytek-Nissan 1m51.809s 13. P2 Tresson/Mailleux/Lombard Signatech ORECA-Nissan 1m52.084s 14. P2 Martin/Kerr/Graves ADR-Delta ORECA-Nissan 1m52.113s 15. P2 Tucker/Bouchut/Barbosa Level 5 HPD 1m52.129s 16. P2 Plowman/Hansson/Dracone Conquest Morgan-Judd 1m52.493s 17. P2 Tucker/Diaz/Hunter-Reay Level 5 HPD 1m52.659s 18. P2 Companc/Kaffer/Ayari Pecom ORECA-Nissan 1m52.763s 19. P2 Holzer/Shultis/Moro Lotus Lola 1m53.080s 20. PC Junqueira/Drissi/Gonzalez RSR FLM 1m54.510s 21. PC Popow/Viso/Friselle CORE FLM 1m54.555s 22. P1 Dyson/Smith/Kane Dyson Lola-Mazda 1m54.593s 23. PC Richard/Ende/Cameron Dempsey FLM 1m54.628s 24. PC Ducote/Echeverria/Sanchez Merchant FLM 1m55.160s 25. PC Bennett/Braun/Lux CORE FLM 1m55.208s 26. PC Guasch/Gidley/Wills Pickett FLM 1m55.420s 27. PC Leitzinger/Dobson/Junco PR1 FLM 1m55.460s 28. PC Marcelli/Downs/Stirling Merchant FLM 1m55.654s 29. PC Nicolosi/Vera/Matos Performance Tech FLM 1m55.848s 30. GT Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 1m58.427s 31. GT Makowiecki/Melo/Vernay Luxury Ferrari 1m58.723s 32. GT Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor Corvette 1m58.996s 33. GT Gavin/Milner/Westbrook Corvette 1m59.007s 34. GT Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci AF Corse Ferrari 1m59.084s 35. GT Hand/Müller/Summerton RLL BMW 1m59.776s 36. GT Sharp/van Overbeek/Cosmo Extreme Speed Ferrari 2m00.094s 37. GT Bergmeister/Long/Holzer Flying Lizard Porsche 2m00.119s 38. GT Mucke/Fernandez/Turner Aston Martin 2m00.174s 39. GTE-AM Ehret/Farnbacher/Jakubowski Luxury Ferrari 2m00.184s 40. GT Lietz/Lieb/Pilet Felbermayr Porsche 2m00.256s 41. GT Müller/Auberlen/Alzen RLL BMW 2m00.337s 42. GT Brown/Segal/Lazzaro Extreme Speed Ferrari 2m00.344s 43. GTE-AM Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo Krohn Ferrari 2m00.929s 44. GT Henzler/Sellers/Ragginger Falken Porsche 2m01.632s 45. GTE-AM Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy Larbre Corvette 2m01.640s 46. GTE-AM Ried/Roda/Ruberti Felbermayr Porsche 2m01.787s 47. GT Miller/Maassen/Bell Miller Porsche 2m02.150s 48. GTE-AM Bourret/Gibon/Belloc Larbre Corvette 2m02.732s 49. GTE-AM Kauffman/Waltrip/Aguas AF Corse Ferrari 2m03.331s 50. GTE-AM Binnie/Palttala/Camathias JWA-Avila Porsche 2m04.342s 51. GTC Cisneros/Edwards/Kauffmann NGT Porsche 2m06.674s 52. GTC LeSaffre/Faulkner/Bleekemolen Green Hornet Porsche 2m06.697s 53. GTC MacNeil/Keen/Dumoulin Alex Job Porsche 2m06.711s 54. GTC Sweedler/Bell/von Moltke Alex Job Porsche 2m07.016s 55. GTC Cumming/Bullitt/Estre JDX Porsche 2m07.264s 56. GT Law/Neiman/Lally Flying Lizard Porsche 2m07.354s 57. GTC Benitez/Benitez/Thiim NGT Porsche 2m07.434s 58. GTC Pumpelly/di Guida/Bunting TRG Porsche 2m07.550s 59. GTC Sofronas/Welch/Villineuve GMC Porsche 2m08.607s 60. GTC Faieta/Avenatti/Wagner Competition Porsche 2m08.792s 61. P2 Pappas/Curtis/Fogarty Black Swan Lola-HPD 2m35.156s 62. P2 Fatien/Ihara/Deletraz Gulf Lola-Nissan 63. P2 Giroix/Jousse/Johansson Gulf Lola-Nissan 64. P1 Moreau/Baguette/Kraihamer OAK Pescarolo-Judd
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