LMP1 Pole, Car #17 / PORSCHE TEAM (DEU) / Porsche 919 Hybrid Hybrid / Timo Bernhard (DEU) / Mark Webber (AUS) / Brendon Hartley (NZL)- 6 Hours of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit – Sakhir – Bahrain
Porsche’s pole position at Bahrain 2015 secured the valuable one point they so desperately needed as they tighten their grip on the driver’s championship in LMP1 category. This was Porsche’s eleventh consecutive WEC pole position.
First out Brendon Hartley piloted the no17 Porsche 919 around Bahrain in a time of 1m39.802s before teammate Timo Bernhard went slightly quicker with a time of 1m39.670s – for a average time of 1m39.760s.This put them more than three tenths up on teammates Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb in the second Porsche 919.
“Qualifying could not have been better for us. It gives us a better chance of taking the drivers’ championship – we have one point now putting us 13 points ahead. We’ll leave calculators at home and do the best job possible,” said Timo Bernhard.
Mark Webber added, “We’re not counting our chickens. Six hours is no easy task. It’s a team result, we’re officially the best team in this category. The double win at Le Mans was a big feather in our cap and now we’re putting the icing on the cake. I’m really excited for tomorrow so I want to go home early, get some rest and we’re looking forward and want the maximum result tomorrow.”
Lining up a somewhat distant third is the Audi R18 e-tron of Marcel Fassler and Andre Lotterer with a 1m41.303s average, a tenth up on the sister car qualified by Loic Duval and Oliver Jarvis. The Toyotas once again struggled and took the last LMP1 slots to finish fifth and sixth.
While six hours of racing still lies ahead, Porsche has put itself in a dominant position and the no17 Porsche 919 with Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard will only need to finish fourth if nearest challengers in the no7 Audi win tomorrow.
Quite frankly unless mechanical issues afflict the Porsches, SA Car Fan can’t see the Audis beating them on raw pace. Stay tuned tomorrow for driver interviews and more, live from Bahrain 2015
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