Audi made the most of a drying track to take its second pole position of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship season during qualifying for the 6 Hours of Nürburgring on Saturday.
Racing without injured teammate Benoit Treluyer this weekend, Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler teamed up to take pole by two-tenths of a second in the no. 7 Audi R18.
Lucas di Grassi posted the fastest time of qualifying in the sister no. 8 car, but a slow time from partner Oliver Jarvis on his first run meant they had to settle for second place on the grid at Audi's home race.
"I had no traffic and managed a sensational lap,” Lotterer said after scoring pole. “Staying out for three laps was the right choice because we became faster and faster.”
"We were instantly very fast today," Fassler added. "A thank you goes to our new engineer Erik Schuivens.
"It’s a shame that our teammate Benoit Treluyer can’t be with us today. We’re in close contact with him and he’s sharing the thrill with us.”
Porsche entered qualifying hopeful of picking up a third pole of the year, only to fade to third and fourth on the grid. 2015 Nürburgring winners Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard edged out Marc Lieb and Neel Jani in the sister 919 Hybrid to secure P3 for the start on Sunday. Toyota struggled to match the pace of the German marques, finishing over one second off the pole time in fifth and sixth.
G-Drive Racing continued its 100% pole record in 2016 by topping the timesheets in LMP2 thanks to a stunning final effort from Rene Rast, who lapped almost a second quicker than any other driver in class. The no. 26 Oreca will line up on pole ahead of the no. 36 Signatech Alpine squad, who finished seven-tenths of a second further back in second.
Aston Martin Racing scored its first pole of the season in GTE Pro as Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen's average saw them finish two-tenths of a second clear of the no. 66 Ford GT piloted by Stefan Mücke and Olivier Pla. The second AMR entry driven by Richie Stanaway and Darren Turner followed in P3, while Le Mans pole-sitters Gianmaria Bruni and James Calado finished fourth in the AF Corse Ferrar 488 GTE.
Abu Dhabi Proton Racing scored its second pole of the season in GTE Am as Khaled Al Qubaisi and Patrick Long took advantage of a rapidly drying track to beat fellow Porsche 911 RSR runner KCMG by two-tenths of a second. The no. 98 Aston Martin Vantage V8 followed in third place, 0.361 seconds off class pole.
The FIA WEC 6 Hours of Nürburgring kicks off at 1pm local time in Germany (12pm BST).
