Saucy storms to pole position in the No.22 United Autosports for the ELMS 4 Hours of Portimao
Gregoire Saucy set the championship leading No.22 United Autosports LMP2 in the perfect position to claim the title on Saturday, setting a fantastic pole lap for the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) 4 Hours of Portimao finale.
LMGT3
In the sunny and optimum for track action Portimao circuit, the LMGT3s started roaring, taking on the challenge of qualifying for the last time this year. Early on it was the championship leading No.62 Team Qatar Iron Lynx Mercedes, of Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi that set the benchmark, with a pretty good time of 1:43.151.
After setting their banker laps with the first set of tyres, the cars poured into the pits for a brand new set of Michelins and went out again to try and beat the Qatari driver's time.
But despite the best attempts of ClĂŠment Mateu in the No.59 RSL Aston Martin and Matthew Kurzejewski in No.75 Proton Porsche that was third, the time stood, and Al-Khelaifi secured his fourth -and perhaps most valuable- pole position of the season.
That is because along with it as always, comes one point that could prove pivotal come race day, with the narrow championship lead over the No.33 TF Sport Corvette that qualified in sixth, extending to four points.
LMP3
In LMP3, Louis Iglesias quickly established himself as the man to beat, with a 1:39.681 early on, in the championship leading No.17 CLX Motorsport Ligier and having already secured a pole position for the Michelin Le Mans Cup race, was on top form, continuing his weekend dominance so far, having also topped FP1 and FP2, setting a final pole position time of 1:38.835.
Having secured his third pole position only four rounds and parked in the pit before the session was over, the impressive young Frenchman put his team in a prime place to win it all come Saturday, with the extra point for pole and the No.85 R-ACE GP Duqueine of Pierre-Alexandre Provost being in fourth setting CLX up nicely.
The No.5 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen and the No.13 Inter Europol Ligier of Henry Cubides Olarte followed the leading CLX, in second and third respectively.
LMP2 Pro-Am
LMP2 Pro-Am begun with the drivers trying to warm-up the tyres in order to bring them inside their optimal operating window, with the first properly quick lap-times not coming until around eight minutes remained.
In such a crucial qualifying session, with eight teams still in with a shot at the title, being quick and precise would be the key to securing the extra point that could be pivotal. None felt it better than No.30 Duqueine driver Giorgio Roda, who while on top had a spin with less than five minutes to go, potentially hurting what is a set of tyres that will be used during the four-hour race.
Come the end of the 15-minute session however, it was the No.3 DKR Engineering of Jean Glorieux that surprisingly grabbed their first pole position of the season, with a 1:33.057, as the first of the title challengers following in second with this being the final placement for the No.30 Duqueine.
Meanwhile the No.20 Algarve Pro Racing of Michael Jensen was in third, with both No.20 and No.30, as well as the No.14 TDS Racing that came fourth, in a good position to capitalise on a poor qualifying for the championship leading No.83 AF Corse, with François Perrodo managing only eighth.
LMP2
Finally came the big one. LMP2, where the two championship challengers, the No.22 United Autosports and the No.29 Forestier Racing by Panis, would try and secure pole.
After their first warm-up laps, all 11 cars set their sights on achieving the best times possible, with the first benchmark time being a 1:31.973, courtesy of Gregoire Saucy, in whose hands was the No.22 UA car, that is on the top of the standings.
It was however subsequently beaten by Esteban Masson's No.29 LMP2, with the Swiss driver setting a 1:31.778. After this first round of laps, there were pit-stops for a fresh set of tyres.
With the fresh set of Michelin tyres, Saucy proved untouchable, securing a crucial pole position along with the one point for it in dominant fashion, setting a 1:31.140, more than four tenths faster than the next best effort, that of the returning Alex Lynn in the No.25 Algarve Pro Racing, with him also being very impressive on his return from injury.
His efforts relegated the No.29 car of Masson to third, with an already difficult task for the Forestier Racing by Panis team, now even more so. Now things have to turn on their head for there to be a chance at the crown.
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