Lexus on pole in LMGT3 for WEC at Monza
The No.78 Akkodis ASP Lexus has taken pole position for the World Endurance Championship (WEC) 6 Hours of Monza, ahead of the championship leading No.33 TF Sport Corvette. It was a damp session, which was interrupted early on for a crash for the No.21 Ferrari.
As it happened
Qualifying
At 14:20 local time, it was the 18 Bronze drivers on the LMGT3 grid taking to the track first for 12 minutes to get into the top 10, and through to Hyperpole. The track was damp after all three practice sessions were affected by rain, so it was going to be a tricky session for the Bronze drivers.
Everyone went out on slick tyres at the start of the session, which proved very tricky right out of the gate. Martin Berry in the No.61 Iron Lynx Mercedes had a half spin out of the second chicane, but he managed to collect it back up and continue on.
The same couldn't be said for François Heriau in the No.21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, who lost it on the kerb at Ascari and hit the wall on the outside. The red flags flew after just two minutes of the session, with no lap times on the board.
Interestingly at Ascari, drivers were reporting that it was very slippery, with mud on the track after cars had gone off and re-joined in earlier sessions.
After a quick clean-up, 17 cars returned to the track for a session that was just under 10 minutes. No one had set any lap times before the red flag, so it was a clean slate session.
Peter Dempsey was quickest after the first set of laps, with a 1:52.2 set in the No.34 TF Sport Corvette. Down in the drop zone though was both Mercedes, both McLarens, both Ferraris and crucially both Porsches. The No.92 - being qualified by Yasser Shahin - is one of four cars in title contention.
Everyone improved on their next laps, but the only change in the elimination zone was the No.79 Mercedes of Johannes Zelger jumping into 10th, knocking Gray Newell's No.23 Aston Martin by just 0.05 of a second.
Newell jumped back into the top 10, but Zelger improved back to ninth, which became eighth when Anthony McIntosh in the No.69 WRT BMW had his lap times deleted. He had one last ditch effort, but only went 12th, which soon fell to 16th.
That not only took them out of Hyperpole, but out of championship contention. They needed pole position to have a mathematical chance of winning the title tomorrow.
Newell's last lap was an absolute flyer, going up to fourth place, well clear of the drop zone. That left the No.92 of Shahin in 11th, ahead of the No.32 BMW who dropped down in the latter stages. Then came Zelger, who ultimately ended 13th, ahead of the No.58 McLaren, No.54 Ferrari, No.69 BMW, No.10 McLaren and the crashed No.21.
Topping the session though was Dempsey, who managed to improve to a 1:48.440, almost half a second clear of the No.88 and No.77 Fords in second and third.
Hyperpole
As the track continued to dry, it was the 10 Silver driver's turn to go for pole position, they had 10 minutes to set their best laps.
Hadrien David in the No.78 Lexus was quick early on, but still slower than what was done in Qualifying, so more time was to come.
It did come, with the two Lexus' one and two with two minutes to go in the session. David got down to a 1:47.8, just 0.062 of a second ahead of the sister No.87 of Clemens Schmid. Purple sectors were coming from Fords and Aston Martins behind though.
Ben Tuck in the No.77 Ford went to second place, with the No.23 and No.27 Astons, and the No.88 Ford all displacing the No.87 down to sixth. David improved too, so only 0.183 split the top five as they headed onto their final laps.
David improved by half a tenth, with Tuck and Zachaire Robichon in the No.27 Aston Martin improving marginally too. Eduarso Barrichello in the No.23 though went top by over four tenths of a second, but he lost the lap due to track limits.
David went back to the top, taking pole by 0.014 of a second ahead of Jonny Edgar, as the championship leader put in a quick lap late on to get a spot on the front row.
Tuck was third, with Barrichello falling to fourth place. Schmid was fifth, ahead of Robichon and Gianmarco Levorato in the No.88 Ford. Then came the No.61 Mercedes, No.91 Porsche and the No.34 Corvette in 10th.
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