Audi Sport’s pair of Lucas di Grassi and Loic Duval, in the No. 8 Audi R18 they’ll share with Oliver Jarvis, have captured the overall and LMP1 pole for Sunday’s Six Hours of Fuji for the FIA World Endurance Championship - but only just.
The two-lap average for the No. 8 Audi of 1:23.570 was just ahead of the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, qualified by Timo Bernhard and Mark Webber, whose average was 1:23.595.
The leading Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS050 Hybrid will roll off third, with Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi taking qualifying duties in the No. 5 car. Their average was 1:23.739.
Porsche has won the last four FIA WEC races, with Audi having won only once this year (Spa) and Toyota yet to break through - obviously the closest it came was at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
YES!! 😃 Pole position at @fswpress in Japan! 🇯🇵 Well done to @LucasdiGrassi and @loicduval! 💪 🎉 #WEC #6hFuji #LeagueofPerformance pic.twitter.com/RUWztuODCZ
— Audi Sport (@audisport) October 15, 2016
The second Toyota, Audi and Porsche were next up, ahead of the pair of privateer LMP1 entries from Rebellion Racing and ByKolles.
G-Drive Racing, with a slightly altered lineup of Will Stevens in for Rene Rast alongside Alex Brundle and Roman Rusinov, slotted into the LMP2 pole with a two-lap average of 1:31.698 for the No. 26 Oreca 05 Nissan.
The class-leading No. 36 Signatech Alpine A460 Nissan (Nicolas Lapierre, Stephane Richelmi, Gustavo Menezes) and Jagonya Ayam-backed new No. 30 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier JS P2 Nissan lineup (Giedo van der Garde, Sean Gelael, Antonio Giovinazzi) roll off second and third.
Menezes, Giovinazzi and Pipo Derani, who shared the No. 31 ESM Ligier Nissan which will start only eighth in class, entered qualifying on the heels of being confirmed for the LMP1 Rookie Test in November at Bahrain.
The pair of Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GTs went 1-2 in GTE-Pro qualifying, ending the recent run of form for Aston Martin Racing in the process. It’s Ford’s first WEC pole since the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which was achieved by Dirk Mueller in one of the U.S.-entered Ganassi Fords there (the full season IMSA entrant, rather than the full season WEC ones).
The No. 66 Ford of Stefan Muecke and Olivier Pla, fresh off his Petit Le Mans win with Michael Shank Racing, edged the sister No. 67 Ford of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell, with that car’s lineup reduced to just two drivers following Marino Franchitti’s team-enforced “step back” for the rest of the season.
Muecke and Pla’s No. 66 car had a two-lap average of 1:37.681 to the Priaulx/Tincknell pair’s average of 1:37.725.
#FordWEC POLE POSITION for the #66 Ford GT and P2 for the #67!! It's a front row lockout for #6hfuji! pic.twitter.com/gtXaUPB4Qo
— Ford Performance (@FordPerformance) October 15, 2016
The two Ferrari 488 GTEs were next, followed by the two Aston Martin Vantage V8s, followed by the single Dempsey/Proton Porsche 911 RSR in a very Noah’s Ark-style grid.
Aston’s No. 98 entry did secure the GTE-Am pole, with Paul Dalla Lana and Pedro Lamy qualifying and Mathias Lauda joining them for the race. That car’s average lap time was 1:39.490, which was a few tenths up on the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia (1:39.863).