Toyota Gazoo Racing has locked out the front row during qualifying for tomorrow's 6 Hours of Fuji in a session that was shortened by a red flag due to Charlie Robertson's #6 Ginetta stopping on track.
The #8 duo of Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley took pole position and never really seemed under threat from either the sister car or the non-hybrid privateers. Together, the duo set an average time of 01:25:013, which was 0.790s quicker than the combined effort of silverstone winners Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi, who will be lining up in second place.
Despite not completing the session, the #6 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 AER proved the quickest of the non-hybrids with a combined time of 01:25:889, which was three-tenths faster than the #1 Rebellion of Norman Nato and Gustavo Menezes in fourth. The LMP1 running order was completed by the #5 Ginetta, which was nearly two seconds off the pole time.
In LMP2, newly crowned Formula 2 champion Nyck de Vries initially set the pace for Racing Team Nederland, but the Dutch squad's pace dropped once bronze-rated Frits van Eerd got behind the wheel of the #29 ORECA 07-Gibson.
In their absence, it was Jackie Chan DC Racing who took pole. The combined effort of Ho-Pin Tung and Gabriel Aubry was good for an average time 0f 01:29:302, which was 0.415s quicker than the time Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque managed in the #22 United Autosports ORECA.
The Anglo-American squad will be lining up second, ahead of the #38 JOTA Sport ORECA. WEC newcomers High Class Racing and Cool Racing qualified fourth and fifth, while reigning champions Signatech Alpine Elf will be starting their #36 Alpine A470-Gibson from sixth place.
De Vries and Van Eerd's average of 01:30:935 put Racing Team Nederland seventh in class, while Cetilar Racing brought up the rear.
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