Toyota
General
WEC Interlagos: Toyota one-two in qualifying, Kobayashi leads #7 to pole
- Ludo van Denderen
After narrowly missing out on a win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Toyota recovered during qualifying for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo. The Japanese manufacturer achieved a handsome one-two in the hyperpole session of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) race and thus will start from the front row of the grid on Sunday with both cars. Kamui Kobayashi - who competes with Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries - was 0.122 seconds faster than the Toyota with Sebastien Buemi (who will be in action with Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa).
At the Interlagos circuit - where Formula 1 will make their appearance later this season - the differences were small anyway. Finishing third was the #5 Porsche Penske, less than two tenths off the better Toyota. The #2 Cadillac with Alex Lynn at the wheel and the #6 Porsche (with Kevin Estre) completed the top five.
Ferrari was out of the running during the decisive phase in qualifying. The winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans - the #50 Ferrari - had to settle for sixth place. That was nearly four tenths off the first Toyota. In fact, Ferrari's second car came no further than a disappointing ninth place, almost eight tenths off the pole sitter. That did mean Alessandro Pier Guidi was faster than Robin Frijns' BMW, which somewhat surprisingly reached the hyperpole session (the top ten after the 'normal' qualifying).
Iron Ladies fastest in GT cars
In the LMP3 class (there is no LMP2 in Sao Paulo), the Iron Dames team took pole. It even did so with some supremacy, as the all-female team saw Sarah Bovy even four tenths faster than the first pursuer. Reigning Le Mans winner in this class - the Manthey EMA team - had to settle for finishing in P5.
