Alex Lynn took an emphatic pole position for Cadillac at Interlagos, the fifth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, with his teammate Sebastien Bourdais ensuring it was a second consecutive front row lock out for Cadillac.
Lynn set a 1:22.570 to go quickest, with Bourdais a tenth off in second.
Porsche’s Julien Andlauer was best of the rest in the #5 machine, over two and a half tenths adrift of Lynn.
However, before the pole position shootout was the 12 minute qualifying session to decide the 10 cars who would go into Hyperpole.
Lynn was, once again, quickest in the #12 Cadillac, setting a 1:22.829, with the two Peugeots second and third.
But the big shock was the two factory Ferraris not getting through to Hyperpole.
That’s the first time this season neither Ferrari has qualified for the top 10 Hyperpole shootout.
Antonio Giovinazzi, in the #51 Ferrari, could only take 17th, a second off Lynn at the top of the timesheets.
His teammate Antonio Fuoco fared a little better, under a tenth faster than Giovinazzi but, due to the closeness of the field, was a few positions ahead in 14th.
The Le Mans-winning satellite Ferrari, the #83 AF Corse car, was the only Ferrari tio get through, in the hands of Robert Kubica. The Pole set a 1:23.595, 0.766 off Lynn.
At the other end of the sheets, Lynn and the two Peugeots, Malthe Jakobsen in the #94 second, 0.379 off Lynn. Paul Di Resta in the #93 took third, under a tenth slower than his teammate.
Julien Andlauer took fourth in the #5 Porsche, with Dries Vanthoor in the #15 BMW fifth.
Going out, then, was the two Aston Martin Valkyries, with Alex Riberas in the #009 Valkyrie 11th and teammate Harry Tincknell in the sister #007 13th. In between them was the #99 Proton Porsche ofNico Varrone, in 12th. Both Alpines, both Ferraris, amd the #7 Toyota also went out.
Lynn fastest again in Hyperpole
Into Hyperpole and Porsche set the first representative laps, with Julien Andlauer in the #5 Porsche beating Kevin Estre in the sister #6 car to the top spot early on.
But this top spot was soon stolen by Lynn in the #12 Cadillac. He initially set a 1:22.788 to go fastest, and then improved on this by just over two tenths, his final fastest lap for pole being a 1:22.570.
With Lynn safely on pole and unbeatable in the 10 minute Hyperpole session, his Cadillac JOTA teammate Sebastien Bourdais took second in the #38 Cadillac, a tenth exactly off Lynn to lock out the front row for Cadillac and JOTA.
Andlauer took third in the #5 Porsche, with Malthe Jakobsen a surprise fourth for Peugeot in the #94 car. Fifth was Sheldon van der Linde in the #20 BMW, with Paul di Resta sixth in the sister #93 Peugeot.
Estre took seventh in the #6 Porsche, unable to match his countryman and teammate in third. Eighth was Dries Vanthoor in the #15 BMW, while Robert Kubica could only manage ninth in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, with Ryo Hirakawa rounding out the top 10 in the #8 Toyota.
Barrichello takes LMGT3 pole at home race
Home hero Eduardo Barrichello took pole in LMGT3, putting Aston Martin and the Racing Spirit of Leman top of the pile at Interlagos.
He set a 1:33.849 to go quickest, just a couple of hundredths faster than #87 ASP Lexus Clemens Schmid. Third was his teammate Finn Gehrsitz in the sister #78 car.
In the initial qualifying session preceding LMGT3 Hyperpole, Petru Umbrarescu was fastest in the #87 ASP Lexus RC F GT3. The Romanian set his lap time, a 1:34.488, early on and stayed top through the 12 minute session to go quickest.
Second was the #59 United Autosports McLaren 720 GT3 Evo of James Cottingham, over four tenths off the leading Lexus. Third was Stefano Gattuso in the #88 Proton Ford Mustang GT3.
However, eight cars went out as they weren’t able to make it through to Hyperpole. This included, rather unexpectedly, both Ferraris and both BMWs.
Ferrari’s two bronze-rated drivers, Thomas Flohr in the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 and Francois Heriau in the sister #21 car, plus Ahmad Al Harthy and Yasser Shahin in the two BMWs, the #46 BMW M4 GT3 and the latter in the #31 car, were unable to put in a time fast enough for the top 10.
Barrichello claims pole 20 minutes from home
Going into Hyperpole, Iron Dames’ Rahel Frey held at the top spot early on in the #85 Porsche 911 GT3R. However, this was soon taken off her by a succession of drivers. With a few minutes to go, Eduardo Barrichello was fastest in the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3, but the two Lexuses were looking fast.
Clemens Schmid, behind the wheel of the #87 ASP Lexus, went just slightly slower with 2 minutes left, just 0.008 off Barrichello. Schmid’s teammate Finn Gehrsitz was also quick, putting in a lap in the sister #78 Lexus, but his lap was just over a tenth slower than Barrichello, taking third.
Barrichello was on a faster lap right at the end of the session, but got pinged for track limits. However, no one was able to put in a faster lap, giving second generation racer Barrichello on pole at his home race, with a 1:33.849.
Schmid was just 0.024 in the end, after Barrichello improved his time on his second to last lap. Gehrsitz was third giving Lexus a 2-3.
Fourth was Linn Hodenius in the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3. Fifth was Sean Galael in the #95 United Autosports McLaren, with his teammate Sebastien Baud sixth in the sister #59 McLaren.
Seventh was Frey in the #85 Iron Dames Porsche, while Gianmarco Levorato in the #88 Proton Ford Mustang eighth. Ninth and tenth were the two TF Sport Corvettes, Jonny Edgar in the #33 ahead of Rui Andrade in the sister #81.
