Portimao WEC: Alpine beats Toyota to maiden pole position
Alpine edged out Toyota to claim pole position for this weekend's Portimao 8 Hours round of the World Endurance Championship in a closely-fought qualifying session.

Matthieu Vaxiviere claimed the top spot by less than a tenth of a second from the best of the Toyotas in the hands of Brendon Hartley.
Vaxiviere set the initial pace aboard the solo Alpine-Gibson A480 LMP1 car, but needed a second run on a fresh set of tyres to secure the pole thanks to a big improvement from Hartley in the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID.
The Kiwi had languished down in fifth in the times behind the best of the LMP2 prototypes after his first run, but his second run would have given him the pole had not Vaxiviere not found just over a tenth.
Vaxiviere ended up on a 1m30.364s, which compared with 1m30.458s for Hartley.
Mike Conway was initially just a fraction behind the Alpine with a 1m30.540s, but the Brit failed to improve on his second run in the #7 Toyota and dropped to third.
The new Glickenhaus-Pipo 007 LMH ended up only 11th in the times behind seven LMP2 cars despite an improvement to 1m32.167s from Richard Westbrook on his second run.
That was a couple of tenths slower than the Brit had managed in final free practice on the way to fourth in the times ahead of the two Toyotas.

#28 JOTA Oreca 07 - Gibson: Sean Gelael, Stoffel Vandoorne, Tom Blomqvist
Photo by: LAT Images/Motorsport Images
Tom Blomqvist came out on top in intra-team battle at Jota for the LMP2 pole.
The Briton initially trailed team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa, but both went for second runs aboard their ORECA-Gibson 07s in the short 10-minute session.
Blomqvist found a couple of tenths to get down to a 1m31.210s, while Da Costa didn't improve on his first run time of 1m31.255s.
Job van Uitert took third in P2 and first in the Pro/Am sub-class aboard Racing Team Nederland's ORECA courtesy of a 1m31.545s.
Paul di Resta took fourth for reigning P2 champion team United Autosport despite multiple track-limits violations.
The Scot managed to get down to a 1m31.598s, which put him just ahead of Robin Frijns in the WRT ORECA.

#92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR - 19: Kevin Estre, Neel Jani, Michael Christensen
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Porsche driver Kevin Estre made it two poles in two races in GTE Pro.
The Frenchman's 1m37.986s lap aboard his factory Porsche 911 RSR put him three tenths clear of James Calado's AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.
Calado's 1m38.359s lap gave him a slender margin of just three hundredths over Gianmaria Bruni in the second of the Porsches.
Daniel Serra ended up fourth in the times in the second Ferrari: the Brazilian initially lost his only lap to a track limits violation and before the time was reinstated.
Egidio Perfetti jumped ahead of Christian Ried in an all-Porsche battle for pole in GTE Am right at the end of 10-minute session for GT machinery.
The WEC 8 Hours of Portimao starts on Sunday June 13 at 11:00 local time (+1 GMT) and will be streamed live on Motorsport.tv.
Portimao 8 Hours WEC qualifying results - LMP
Portimao 8 Hours WEC qualifying results - GT
Cla | Drivers | Car | Class | Avg Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE PRO | 1'37.986 | |
2 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 1'38.359 | 0.373 |
3 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE PRO | 1'38.389 | 0.403 |
4 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 1'38.743 | 0.757 |
5 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 1'40.191 | 2.205 |
6 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 1'40.236 | 2.250 |
7 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'40.885 | 2.899 |
8 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'41.001 | 3.015 |
9 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'41.085 | 3.099 |
10 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'41.141 | 3.155 |
11 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'41.276 | 3.290 |
12 | |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 1'41.366 | 3.380 |
13 | |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 1'41.499 | 3.513 |
14 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 1'41.604 | 3.618 |
15 | Dylan Pereira |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 1'41.993 | 4.007 |
16 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'42.521 | 4.535 |
17 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 1'43.374 | 5.388 |
View full results |
Related video

Portimao WEC: Di Resta completes LMP2 clean sweep of practice
"Blocked" Alpine has to live with fuel mileage disadvantage to WEC Hypercars

Latest news
Friday Favourite: The Porsche “twins” who usurped Audi’s best
In a long career as a Porsche factory driver that yielded success in prototypes and GT cars on both sides of the Atlantic, Timo Bernhard was frequently paired up with Romain Dumas. Together, the pair were a near unstoppable force and were no less potent when they were loaned as a package to Audi
Porsche completes two-car LMDh test at Monza as US-bound chassis debuts
Porsche Penske Motorsport has begun testing a second example of the 963 LMDh contender as it ramps up preparation for its twin programmes in the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2023.
The final episode on the Monza round of the FIA World Endurance Championship sees the action reach a dramatic and thrilling conclusion in the race.
Rast, Muller and Cassidy to miss Fuji WEC to focus on DTM
Rene Rast, Nico Muller and Nick Cassidy are all expected to miss the fifth round of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship at Fuji Speedway next month to prioritise their DTM commitments.
The problem sausage kerbs continue to cause
Track limits are the problem that motorsport doesn't seem to be able to rid itself of. But the use of so-called 'sausage kerbs' as a deterrent has in several instances only served to worsen the problem, and a growing number of voices want to see action taken
The history lessons Peugeot should have learned on its return
The Peugeot 9X8 will make its World Endurance Championship debut at Monza this weekend. The French manufacturer has gone radical and will be hoping it doesn’t need to overhaul its contender, as it did with its first Le Mans challenger…
Why Peugeot's sportscar return will capture the imagination
OPINION: Peugeot will make its World Endurance Championship debut at Monza this weekend with the 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar that has ignored design conventions by eschewing a rear wing. Its distinctive look will help sportscar racing appeal to fresh audiences as a new golden era is ushered in
How Formula E's double-duty drivers influenced their Le Mans teams' fortunes
Eight Formula E drivers made the 7,000-mile sprint from the streets of Jakarta to the fabled Circuit de la Sarthe and every one had a story to share at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. Despite a range of triumphs and disappointments, each driver doubling up on the day job played a key role in their teams' fortunes
How an Italian junior formula giant is readying for its Le Mans future
Prema remains a colossus in single-seaters, but the serial Formula 2 and Formula 3 title-winning squad has joined forces with top GT squad Iron Lynx for an attack on sportscars in the World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series. Ahead of its debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours, its sights are firmly fixed on LMP2 glory – and a future in Hypercars next year...
The British rookies targeting a good first impression at Le Mans
Three young Britons will make their first starts in the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend in the highly-competitive 23-car GTE Am field. But how did they get here? Autosport hears their stories.
The wingless wonder Peugeot hopes will restore it to Le Mans glory
Peugeot went radical with the initial plan for its Le Mans Hypercar project, and then stuck to its guns. Here’s how things are shaping up a few weeks before the debut of the 9X8 in next month's Monza World Endurance Championship round
How Toyota’s sole survivor turned the tables at Spa
After a chastening opening to the season at Sebring that ended in an enormous accident, Toyota's #7 crew got their World Endurance Championship underway with victory at a treacherously slippery Spa to make up for its sister car's Sebring defeat to Alpine, as Glickenhaus's promising qualifying turned to disaster in the race