In the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Hypercar Friday afternoon to extend his, Jose-Maria Lopez's and Mike Conway’s title lead to 16 points.
Kevin Estre in the #92 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR tops LMGTE Pro for the fifth time this season. The one point for pole means the #92 Porsche and the #51 AF Corse Ferrari crews are dead level on points heading into finale today.
In LMP2 United Autosports USA seal pole and LMGTE Am pole goes to Roberto Lacorte for Cetilar Racing for Italian teams’ first time at the head of the class grid.
HYPERCAR
Toyota Gazoo Racing 1-2 on grid for final round of 2021 FIA WEC at the BAPCO 8 Hours of Bahrain after Kamui Kobayashi posted a 1m46.250s lap to lead sister #8 car by 0.6s. The #8 Toyota, in hands of Brendon Hartley, goes for second lap but lock-up compromises the Kiwi and he has to settle for second place on the grid. The #36 Alpine ELF Matmut A480 to start third with Matthieu Vaxiviere setting a 1m47.025s lap.
LMGTE PRO
Kevin Estre tops LMGTE Pro in #92 Porsche to take fifth pole of season with a lap of 1m56.041s. Championship rival James Calado qualified the #51 AF Corse Ferrari in second place, the British driver getting within 0.160s of Estre’s time in a thrilling session.
The difference of 0.160s between Estre and Calado is the second smallest gap between first and second in LMGTE Pro qualifying this season. The smallest gap was between Estre and Alessandro Pier Guidi at Monza, where the French driver edged his Italian rival by just 0.065s.
The #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo heads the #91 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR driven by Gimmi Bruni after the Italian set a late lap of 1m56.541s after losing earlier one for track limits. The #91 Porsche starts third ahead of #52 AF Corse driven by Daniel Serra
LMP2
Filipe Albuquerque took a last-ditch pole in the #22 United Autosports USA Oreca after a sensational 1m49.525s lap at the chequered flag. This is the second pole of the season for the team. Realteam Racing were close to LMP2 pole but were pipped by Albuquerque at the end of the 10-minute session, but is the best Pro/Am entry, with Norman Nato setting a 1m49.819s.
The #38 JOTA Oreca will start third after Antonio Felix da Costa set a best lap of 1m49.910s and four places ahead of the championship leading #31 Team WRT and the other title contender, the #28 JOTA Oreca, down in 9th.
LMGTE Am
Cetilar Racing continue excellent form as Roberto Lacorte sets pole time in #47 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, taking his and the team’s first pole position of season with a 1m58.712s lap, just 0.047s ahead of title leading #83 AF Corse Ferrari. Francois Perrodo places second with a 1m58.759 as he and Niklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera look to defend title the 2019/20 FIA WEC GTE AM title. Sarah Bovy takes third spot in the #85 Iron Lynx Ferrari to secure the highest ever WEC qualifying position for a female driver with a 1m58.958 lap time.
