Toyota Gazoo Racing came out on top in Hyperpole at Interlagos for the 6 Hours of São Paulo, securing the first two starting positions on the grid. In LMGT3, it was Iron Dames who held the upper hand, with Sarah Bovy qualifying her #85 Lamborghini on pole.
Toyota arrived at Interlagos looking to put the disappointment of Le Mans behind them, and have certainly set their stall out earlier. Kamui Kobayashi put his #7 GR010 Hybrid on pole with a time of 1:23.140, one tenth faster than the sister #8 car of Sébastien Buemi.
Starting from third will be the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki. Alongside them on the second row is the #2 Cadillac of Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn.
Leaders in the drivers’ championship, Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor, could only manage P5 on the grid. Fellow championship contenders Ferrari qualified in P6 and P9.
Iron Dames take second pole of the season
In LMGT3, the #85 Iron Dames crew qualified their Lamborghini on the pole position for the second time this season. Sarah Bovy’s time of 1:34.413 was almost four tenths quicker than second-placed qualifier Aliaksandr Malykhin for Manthey Purerxcing and Porsche.
United Autosports locked out row two in Hyperpole at Interlagos with their pair of McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evos.
With just 12 points separating Toyota from Porsche at the head of the manufacturers’ championship, Sunday’s race promises much intrigue and excitement. You can follow all the action here at wec-magazin.com with our live text. The race is due to get underway at 4:30pm Central European Summer Time.