Austin WEC: Rebellion grabs third straight pole
Rebellion Racing scored its third straight FIA World Endurance Championship pole position, trouncing the Toyotas to top qualifying for Sunday's Lone Star Le Mans.
Gustavo Menezes and Norman Nato sealed the top stop ahead of the best of the Toyotas after the team swapped the engine in the back of its solo Rebellion R-13 as a result of a sudden failure halfway through the second practice period.
Menezes went quickest on the first runs with a 1m47.674s and then Nato set a 1m48.087s before a brief red-flag period. The Frenchman improved to a 1m47.387s after the interruption to give the Rebellion a 1m47.530s average.
Jose Maria Lopez and Mike Conway took second in the more heavily penalised of the two Toyota TS050 Hybrids, the #7 car.
Lopez was third-fastest after his run with a 1m48.634s, which Conway followed with a 1m49.688s to yield a 1m49.161s average.
Kazuki Nakajima had been eight tenths quicker than Lopez in the first runs with a 1m47.891s, but Brendon Hartley lost his first lap to a track limits violation.
He managed a 1m50.971s on his final lap before the chequered flag, which gave the #8 Toyota a 1m49.431s average.
Nicolas Lapierre and Antonin Borga took the LMP2 pole aboard the Cool Racing Oreca.
Lapierre was second fastest after the first runs with a 1m49.343s, while Borga managed a 1m50.478s. That yielded a 1m49.910s average, which was a tenth up on the 1m50.073s from Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson in the United Autosports Oreca.
Nyck de Vries set the fastest P2 time aboard the Racing Team Nederland Oreca with a 1m48.696s, which briefly split the Toyotas during the first runs.
GTE Pro points leaders Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim took the class pole in the #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE.
Sorensen led the way after the first runs on a 2m00.742s before his teammate maintained the top spot on his first run. Thiim then improved on his lap, getting down to a 2m00.725s to give them a 2m00.733s average and a two-tenth margin over the second-placed Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre.
Christensen was only fifth in class after his run on a 2m01.106s, but Estre's 2m00.798s brought their average down to 2m00.952s.
Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin took third in the second of the Astons with a 2m01.029s average.
The two AF Corse-run Ferrari 488 GTEs took fourth and sixth after both lost times for track limits violations.
James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi just edged out the Porsche of Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz for fourth, while Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina ended up sixth ahead of the solo Corvette C8.R of Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller
GTE Am pole went to the Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR qualified by Matteo Cairoli and Egidio Perfetti from the Aston Martin of Paul Dalla Lana and Ross Gunn.
LMP qualifying times:
GTE qualifying times:
| Cla | # | Drivers | Car | Class | Avg Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 95 |  Marco Sorensen Nicki Thiim | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE PRO | 2'00.733 | |
| 2 | 92 | Michael Christensen  Kevin Estre | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE PRO | 2'00.952 | 0.219 |
| 3 | 97 |  Alex Lynn  Maxime Martin | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE PRO | 2'01.029 | 0.296 |
| 4 | 51 | James Calado  Alessandro Pier Guidi | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 2'01.031 | 0.298 |
| 5 | 91 | Gianmaria Bruni  Richard Lietz | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE PRO | 2'01.049 | 0.316 |
| 6 | 71 | Davide Rigon  Miguel Molina | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 2'01.229 | 0.496 |
| 7 | 56 |  Egidio Perfetti  Laurents Hörr Matteo Cairoli | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 2'02.784 | 2.051 |
| 8 | 98 |  Paul Dalla Lana Darren Turner Ross Gunn | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 2'02.830 | 2.097 |
| 9 | 90 |  Salih Yoluc  Charles Eastwood Jonathan Adam | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 2'02.909 | 2.176 |
| 10 | 63 | Jan Magnussen Mike Rockenfeller | Chevrolet Corvette C8.R | LMGTE PRO | 2'02.967 | 2.234 |
| 11 | 77 | Christian Ried Riccardo Pera  Matt Campbell | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 2'03.110 | 2.377 |
| 12 | 83 | François Perrodo Emmanuel Collard Nicklas Nielsen | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 2'03.376 | 2.643 |
| 13 | 57 |  Ben Keating  Felipe Fraga  Jeroen Bleekemolen | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 2'03.450 | 2.717 |
| 14 | 54 |  Thomas Flohr Francesco Castellacci Giancarlo Fisichella | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 2'03.462 | 2.729 |
| 15 | 88 | Bret Curtis Adrien de Leener Thomas Preining | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 2'03.682 | 2.949 |
| 16 | 70 |  Motoaki Ishikawa  Olivier Beretta Kei Cozzolino | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 2'03.781 | 3.048 |
| 17 | 62 | Bonamy Grimes Johnny Mowlem Charles Hollings | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 2'03.964 | 3.231 |
| 18 | 86 | Michael Wainwright Andrew Watson Benjamin Barker | Porsche 911 RSR | LMGTE AM | 2'04.296 | 3.563 |
| View full results | ||||||
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