Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Matt Campbell qualified on pole for tonight’s World Endurance Championship Qatar 1812km at Lusail International Circuit, topping Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Nyck De Vries by 0.164 seconds.
Campbell’s best lap aboard the #5 Porsche 963 came in the final seconds of this morning’s Hyperpole session for the top ten qualifiers to give Porsche their first top-class pole in the WEC since Bahrain 2017.
Lining up directly behind the #5 entry in third is another 963, with Callum Illot qualifying third on his WEC debut for Hertz Team Jota.
The first of the Ferrari contingent starts fourth, with Antonio Fuoco putting the #50 AF Corse onto the second row.
The #6 Porsche Penske entry starts fifth courtesy of a strong qualifying run from Kevin Estre, while the first of the Peugeots qualified sixth at the hands of Jean-Eric Vergne.
Earl Bamber’s Cadillac Racing starts from seventh, with his full-time teammate Alex Lynn qualifying the #2 V-Series.R. The #51 2023 Le Mans-winning Ferrari qualified eighth via Antonio Giovinazzi, while Hertz Team Jota’s second Porsche 963, at the hands of Jenson Button, and the second Peugeot 9X8 LMH (Stoffel Vandoorne) completed the top ten.
The Hyperpole session, the first ever held outside the 24 Hours of Le Mans, saw five manufacturers represented, with four Porsches joined by two Ferraris, two Peugeots, a sole Cadillac, and a sole Toyota.
Defending champion Brendon Hartley took the reigns for Toyota Gazoo Racing’s #8 entry in qualifying and failed to progress to the Hyperpole session by just 0.017 seconds, in eleventh.
Also missing out were Hypercar newcomers Lamborghini (18th), BMW (15th & 16th), Alpine (14th & 17th) and Isotta Fraschini (19th).
The Qatar 1812km begins at 9.00 pm (NZ Time) and will be shown live as a paid service on the World Endurance Championship’s streaming platform.
Free highlights of each round will be shown on Sunday afternoon’s CRC Motorsport on Three.
