Peugeot takes pole position at Imola!

Müller and Long quickest in LM GTE

Peugeot takes pole position at Imola!
Author: Franck Drui
2 July 2011 - 16:40

The first 20-minute qualifying session for the Imola 6 Hours began at 14h00 with 14 LM GTE Pros and 8 GTE Ams taking part. The no. 55 BMW M3 n°55 and the no. 63 Porsche 911 RSR n°63 set the quickest times in their respective categories .

Frédéric Makowiecki ( no. 59 Luxury Racing Ferrari F458 Italia) was the first to set a benchmark time in LM GTE Pro before being beaten by Jörg Müller (no. 55 BMW Motorsport BMW M3 n°55). The second Bavarian car of Dirk Werner (no. 56 BMW Motorsport BMW M3) quickly jumped up to third.

Local hero, Giancarlo Fisichella (no. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia) did not manage to match these times and took fifth while BMW Motorsport continued to improve. The former F1 driver finished in seventh place.

The final flying laps did not modify the hierarchy and Jörg Müller held on to the fastest time in the session from his team-mate, Dirk Werner. The order behind the two BMW M3s was Jaime Melo (no. 71 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia ), Frédéric Makowiecki (no. 59 Luxury Racing Ferrari F458 Italia) and Rob Bell (no. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia) . The 3 Ferraris were separated by less than 3/10s!

En LM GTE Am, Porsche dominated the session from the start with Nicolas Armindo (no. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 RSR), then Patrick Long (no. 63 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR). The American improved his time without being challenged by his rivals and finished in the middle of the LM GTE Pros. Italian Marco Cioci (no. 61 AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT) set the second-best time in front of Michele Rugolo (no. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F430 GT).

Peugeot takes pole position at Imola!

The duel continues between Peugeot and Audi. The 2 Peugeot 908s and the 2 Audi R18 TDIs will line up on either side of the grid for the Imola 6 Hours. Anthony Davidson (no. 7 Peugeot 908) bagged pole ahead of Marcel Fässler (no. 1 Audi R18 TDI), Stéphane Sarrazin (no. 8 Peugeot 908 n°8) and Allan McNish (no. 2 Audi R18 TDI n°2).

Marcel Fässler, the 2011 Le Mans winner topped the time sheets in the first half of the session in front of Anthony Davidson, Allan McNish and Stéphane Sarrazin. With 4 drivers chasing pole the pace increased in the last 10 minutes. Davidson was the first to crack the 1m 32s barrier with a lap in 1m 31.736s, a time that remained unbeaten.

Behind the 4 diesels, Guillaume Moreau (no. 15 Oak Racing Oak Pescarolo – Judd) emerged victorious in a tough battle in the petrol-engined brigade from Neel Jani (no. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60-Toyota coupe) and the sister car, no. 13, of Andrea Belicchi.

The Oreca chassis dominated in the LM P2 category with Mathias Beche (no. 46 TDS Racing) setting the fastest time from Dominik Kraihamer (no. 45 Boutsen Energy Racing). On his final flyer, Danny Watts (Strakka Racing) snatched third place in his HPD ARX – 01d from Soheil Ayari (no. 26 Signatech Nissan n°26) preventing an Oreca triple.
Genoa Racing came out on top in the Formula Le Mans battle. Elton Julian was less than 2/10s quicker than Nicolas Marroc (JMB Racing). Patrick Simon (Pegasus Racing) completed the top three.

Pos#TeamDriverCarCatTimeGap
1 7 Peugeot Sport Total S. Bourdais/A. Davidson Peugeot 908 LM P1 1:37.736
2 1 Audi Sport Team Joest T. Bernhard/M. Fassler Audi R18 TDI LM P1 1:32.354 +0.618
3 8 Peugeot Sport Total F. Montagny/S. Sarrazin Peugeot 908 LM P1 1:32.732 +0.996
4 2 Audi Sport Team Joest T. Kristensen/A. McNish Audi R18 TDI LM P1 1:32.974 +1.238
5 15 Oak Racing P. Ragues/G. Moreau Oak Pescarolo - Judd LM P1 1:34.746 +3.010
6 12 Rebellion Racing N. Jani/N. Prost Lola B10/60 Coupe - Toyota LM P1 1:35.047 +3.311
7 13 Rebellion Racing A. Belicchi/J. Boullion Lola B10/60 Coupe - Toyota LM P1 1:35.700 +3.964
8 16 Pescarolo Team E. Collard/C. Tinseau/J. Jousse Pescarolo - Judd LM P1 1:35.996 +4.260
9 23 MIK Corse M. Cortes/F. Geri/G. Piccini Zytek 09 LM P1 1:36.084 +4.348
10 46 TDS Racing M. Beche/P. Thiriet/J. Firth Oreca 03 - Nissan LM P2 1:37.208 +5.472
11 45 Boutsen Energy Racing D. Kraihamer/N. De Crem Oreca 03 - Nissan LM P2 1:37.476 +5.740
12 42 Strakka Racing N. Leventis/D. Watts/J. Kane HPD ARX -01d LM P2 1:38.118 +6.382
13 26 Signatech Nissan F. Mailleux/L. Ordoñez/S. Ayari Oreca 03 - Nissan LM P2 1:38.351 +6.615
14 41 Greaves Motorsport K. Ojjeh/O. Lombard/T. Kimber-Smith Zytek Z11SN - Nissan LM P2 1:38.533 +6.797
15 33 Level 5 Motorsports S. Tucker/C. Bouchut/J. Barbosa Lola Coupe - HPD LM P2 1:38.959 +7.223
16 40 Race Performance M. Frey/R. Meichtry/M. Rostan Oreca 03 - Judd LM P2 1:38.991 +7.255
17 49 Oak Racing J. Nicolet/A. Premat Oak Pescarolo - Judd LM P2 1:39.130 +7.394
18 39 Pecom Racing L. Perez-Companc/M. Russo/P. Kaffer Lola B11/40 - Judd LM P2 1:39.198 +7.462
19 44 Extreme Limite AM Paris F. Rosier/M. Basso Norma M200P - Judd LM P2 1:39.848 +8.112
20 35 Oak Racing A. Barlesi/F. Da Rocha/P. Lafargue Oak Pescarolo - Judd LM P2 1:40.146 +8.410
21 43 RLR Msport B. Gates/R. Garofall/S. Phillips MG Lola EX265 - Judd LM P2 1:40.543 +8.807
22 36 RML T. Erdos/M. Newton/B. Collins HPD ARX -01d LM P2 1:40.642 +8.906
23 93 Genoa Racing E. Julian/C. Zugel/J. Petersen FLM - Oreca - 09 FLM 1:42.574 +10.838
24 99 JMB Racing C. Ducote/K. Marcelli/N. Marroc FLM - Oreca - 09 FLM 1:42.755 +11.019
25 95 Pegasus Racing M. Schultis/P. Simon/J. Schell FLM - Oreca - 09 FLM 1:43.285 +11.549
26 55 BMW Motorsport A. Farfus/J. Muller BMW M3 LM GTE Pro 1:44.468 +12.732
27 91 Hope Racing L. Moro/S. Zhang/T. Graves FLM - Oreca - 09 FLM 1:44.550 +12.814
28 56 BMW Motorsport D. Werner/P. Lamy BMW M3 LM GTE Pro 1:44.683 +12.947
29 71 AF Corse J. Melo/T. Vilander Ferrari F458 Italia LM GTE Pro 1:44.691 +12.955
30 59 Luxury Racing S. Ortelli/F. Makowiecki Ferrari F458 Italia LM GTE Pro 1:44.725 +12.989
31 66 JMW Motorsport R. Bell/J. Walker Ferrari F458 Italia LM GTE Pro 1:44.730 +12.994
32 77 Team Felbermayr - Proton M. Lieb/R. Lietz Porsche 911 RSR (997) LM GTE Pro 1:44.895 +13.159
33 51 AF Corse G. Fisichella/G. Bruni Ferrari F458 Italia LM GTE Pro 1:45.130 +13.394
34 89 Hankook Team Farmbacher D. Farnbacher/A. Simonsen Ferrari F458 Italia LM GTE Pro 1:45.384 +13.648
35 76 IMSA Performance Matmut P. Pilet/W. Henzler Porsche 911 RSR (997) LM GTE Pro 1:45.467 +13.731
36 63 Proton Competition P. Long/G. Roda Porsche 911 RSR (997) LM GTE Am 1:45.650 +13.914
37 75 Prospeed Competition M. Goossens/M. Holzer Porsche 911 RSR (997) LM GTE Pro 1:45.767 +14.031
38 58 Luxury Racing A. Beltoise/F. Jakubowski/R. Firman Ferrari F458 Italia LM GTE Pro 1:45.779 +14.043
39 79 Jota S. Dolan/S. Hancock Aston Martin Vantage LM GTE Pro 1:45.841 +14.105
40 61 AF Corse P. Perazzini/M. Cioci/S. Lemeret Ferrari F430 LM GTE Am 1:45.906 +14.170
41 57 Krohn Racing T. Krohn/N. Jonsson/M. Rugolo Ferrari F430 LM GTE Am 1:46.219 +14.483
42 67 IMSA Performance Matmut N. Armindo/R. Narac Porsche 911 RSR (997) LM GTE Am 1:46.283 +14.547
43 50 Larbre Competition P. Bornhauser/J. Canal/G. Gardel Corvette C6-ZR1 LM GTE Am 1:46.614 +14.878
44 82 CRS Racing K. Hummel/A. Christodoulou/P. Quaife Ferrari F430 LM GTE Am 1:46.798 +15.062
45 62 CRS Racing P. Ehret/S. Lynn/R. Wills Ferrari F430 LM GTE Am 1:48.176 +16.440
46 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton C. Ried/H. Felbermayr Jr. Porsche 911 RSR (997) LM GTE Am 1:48.197 +16.461
47 65 Lotus Jetalliance J. Rossiter/J. Mowlem/J. Hirschi Lotus Evora LM GTE Pro 1:49.037 +17.301
48 64 Lotus Jetalliance O. Slingerland/M. Rich/L. Lichtner-Hoyer Lotus Evora LM GTE Pro 1:50.053 +18.317
49 92 Neil Garner Motorsport J. Hartshorne/S. Keating/P. Keen FLM - Oreca - 09 FLM -:—.--- +—.---
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