WEC: No. 7 Toyota on pole in Bahrain; Porsche fastest in LMGTE Pro

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Kamui Kobayashi has taken pole position in Bahrain at the wheel of the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar to extend his and Jose-Maria Lopez and Mike Conway’s title lead to 16 points.

Kevin Estre in the No. 92 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR tops LMGTE Pro for the fifth time this season. Point for pole means Porsche and No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari crews are tied on points heading into finale tomorrow.

In LMP2, United Autosports USA seal pole and LMGTE Am top spot falls to Roberto Lacorte for Cetilar Racing for Italian teams’ first pole.

Kamui Kobayashi (GR010 HYBRID #7): “Both cars knew this was going to be a very important qualifying session for the World Championship. It was a big fight, one of the toughest qualifying sessions of the year. Actually I didn’t expect pole because I had struggled a bit in practice but Mike, José and the team helped me a lot. We made a big adjustment and it worked well. I was happy with my lap and the team effort to achieve this pole position. To finish the season with a win would be great. It’s an important race for me personally because it’s Kazuki’s last race with the team. He is a brilliant driver and team-mate so I hope his last race will be one of the best.”

Below are the main headlines from Qualifying.

Hypercar

• Toyota Gazoo Racing 1-2 on grid for final round of 2021 FIA WEC at the Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain
• Kamui Kobayashi slams in a 1m46.250s lap to lead sister No. 8 car by 0.6s
• No. 8 Toyota in hands of Brendon Hartley goes for second lap but lock-up compromises Kiwi and he has to settle for second
• Alpine Elf Matmut to start third with Matthieu Vaxiviere setting a 1m47.025s lap

LMGTE Pro

• Kevin Estre tops LMGTE Pro in No. 92 Porsche to take fifth pole of the season
• Frenchman laps in 1m56.041s but faces close fight with No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari second
• James Calado gets within 0.160s of Estre’s time in thrilling session
• No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo heads No.91 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR driven by Gimmi Bruni
• Bruni sets a late lap of 1m56.541s after losing lap for track limits and starts third ahead of No. 52 AF Corse driven by Daniel Serra

LMP2

• Filipe Albuquerque takes last ditch pole United Autosports USA entry with sensational 1m49.525s lap
• Second pole of the season for United as they have 0.2s advantage
• Realteam Racing close to LMP2 pole but pipped by Albuquerque. But blue LMP2 car also has best Pro/Am entry with Norman Nato peaking on a 1m49.819s
• JOTA head start third as No. 38 car driven by Antonio Felix da Costa sets best of 1m49.910s
• Team WRT start lowly seventh in class but ahead of title rivals No. 28 only ninth after troubled session

LMGTE Am

• Cetilar Racing continue excellent form as Roberto Lacorte sets pole time in No. 47 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
• Italian takes first pole position of season with a 1m58.712s lap just 0.047s ahead of title leading No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari
• Francois Perrodo places second as he and Niklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera look to defend title
• Exceptional third in LMGTE Am is Sarah Bovy in No. 85 Iron Lynx Ferrari for best qualifying effort of season

Qualifying Results