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Keating Porsche thrown out of Fuji qualifying

The Project 1 Porsche driven by Ben Keating and Felipe Fraga has been stripped of its class pole position for this weekend's Fuji FIA World Endurance Championship round.

#57 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR:  Ben Keating, Felipe Fraga, Jeroen Bleekemolen

#57 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR: Ben Keating, Felipe Fraga, Jeroen Bleekemolen

JEP / Motorsport Images

Keating and Fraga had taken GTE Am pole by less than a tenth of a second in the #57 Porsche 911 RSR they share with Jeroen Bleekemolen.

However, the trio will now be forced to start from the back of the grid in Sunday's race after a breach of the technical regulations was uncovered by scrutineers.

A stewards' bulletin stated that the #57 car's "quick door release system is not in compliance with the homologation form", noting that "the fixing screw of the door was missing". The punishment was the deletion of all laptimes set by Keating and Fraga.

The exclusion promotes the TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GTE of Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Jonathan Adam to GTE Am pole, ahead of the Silverstone-winning AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE of Nicklas Nielsen, Francois Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard.

Keating, Fraga and Bleekemolen were forced to start last month's Silverstone opener from the pits after an engine problem preventing them from taking part in qualifying, going on to finish a lapped 10th in class.

Earlier this year, the trio had their GTE Am victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours taken away when Keating's self-entered Ford GT was found to have a non-compliant fuel tank.

#85 Keating Motorsports Ford GT: Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Felipe Fraga takes the checkered flag

#85 Keating Motorsports Ford GT: Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Felipe Fraga takes the checkered flag

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

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