Brendon Hartley has claimed his third pole position at the Bahrain International Circuit in as many years ahead of this Saturday’s Bahrain 8 Hours race which concludes the FIA World Endurance Championship season.
The New Zealander recorded his second consecutive pole in Bahrain in the No. 8 Toyota, recording the fastest lap of 1:46.714. Nyck de Vries secured a 1-2 victory for Toyota in the #7 GR010, while he and Kamui Kobayashi put together a last-minute bid for the drivers’ title.
The #51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P finished third with a time set by Antonio Giovinazzi, 0.043 seconds behind de Vries’ best time. Proton Competition’s Porsche, with Neel Jani behind the wheel, topped the Porsche with the Swiss driver’s best time of 1 minute, 47.234 seconds.
The #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P driven by Antonio Fuoco achieved the fifth fastest time after overcoming technical problems in FP3.
Rounding out the top six was the #6 Porsche Penske, which topped the driver points standings heading into the final race with Kévin Estre at the helm. The rest of the top 10 are as follows: #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche in 7th, #15 BMW in 8th, #5 Porsche Penske in 9th and #20 BMW in 10th.
Neither Alpine nor Peugeot qualified for the session, along with the #2 Cadillac, Lamborghini Iron Lynx, #83 AF Corse Ferrari and #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche.
1-2 for McLaren in LMGT3
United Autosports McLaren have secured a 1-2 front row lock for tomorrow’s season finale. James Caygill in the No. 59 United Autosports McLaren recorded a best lap of 2m02.201s in LMGT3 to claim the British manufacturer’s second WEC Hyperpole top spot. His time was just 0.002 seconds faster than the sister McLaren driven by James Cottingham, and it was a fantastic day for United Autosports as they claimed their first FIA WEC pole position point.
