Richard Lietz and Gianmaria Bruni have claimed pole position in GTE Pro for tomorrow's 6 Hours of Fuji.
The Silverstone winning duo put in an average lap time of 01:37:356 in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19, which proved enough to best the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi by 0.038s.
While Calado's lap time was quicker than the one set by Bruni in the first laps, Lietz clawed back the advantage during his flying lap by beating Calado by two-tenths, which brought the Austrian's average time down just enough to claim his first pole of the 2019/20 season.
The #95 Aston Martin of Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim was in third, just 0.110s behind the pole-sitting Porsche. The duo will be starting on the second row alongside the #71 Ferrari of Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina, whose average time of 01:37:792 was 0.4s off the pole time.
Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin will be starting fifth in the #97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR, while reigning world champions Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen will be starting from sixth in the #92 Porsche. Their best combined effort of 01:37:395 left them roughly half a second off.
In GTE Am, IMSA veteran Ben Keating took his first WEC pole position after he and partner Felipe Fraga snatched it by putting in an average of 01:38:733.
This was enough to take it from the #90 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage, who looked strong but lost out when Salih Yoluc's flying lap was slower than Fraga's. Even a mega lap from Jonny Adam (01:37:978) was not enough to bring the team's average down further, leaving them in second.
The Silverstone-winning duo of Nicklas Nielsen and Francois Perrodo qualified third in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, with their combined average of 01:38:850 leaving them 0.236 off the pole time.
The #98 Aston Martin of Ross Gunn and Paul Dalla Lana were quick in the first set of laps, but ultimately lost out and will start fourth.
UPDATE: The pole sitting #57 Team Project 1 Porsche has been disqualified after failing post-qualifying technical inspections.
The disqualification means that the #90 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR, which qualified second at the hands of Salih Yoluc and Jonny Adam, has been promoted to pole position. This means that Yoluc, Adam and Charlie Eastwood has started each of the two rounds of the 2019/20 season so far on pole. The trio also claimed pole position at the 4 Hours of Silverstone.
Silverstone winners Nicklas Nielsen, Francois Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard will start second in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, while the #98 Aston Martin Racing entry of Paul Dalla Lana, Ross Gunn and Darren Turner start third.
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