Brendon Hartley secured Toyota their first pole position of the WEC season ahead of the Six Hours of Portimao, while Kamui Kobayashi ensured a front-row lockout for the manufacturer.
Hartley’s best time of a 1’30.171 was enough to secure pole for the number eight car, two tenths quicker than the number seven. The two Ferrari 499Ps of numbers 50 and 51 will start behind the Toyotas, both over 1.5s slower than the pole time.When the session began, the Glickenhaus car driven by Romain Dumas was the first car to set a representative time, before the number eight Toyota driven by Brendon Hartley jumped immediately to the top of the times with a 1’30.480 – easily the quickest time of the weekend. The two Ferraris of number 50 with Nicklas Nielsen and James Calado’s number 51 car could not get within a second of the Toyota, before the second number seven Toyota piloted by Kamui Kobayashi moved to second, just over a quarter of a second slower than its team mate.
With less than five laps remaining, Hartley pulled the number eight Toyota into the pit lane to end his session early. He was soon joined by Kobayashi in the second Toyota, leaving the number eight car on provisional pole position. Any threat of Toyota being ousted from the front row quickly evaporated as the two Ferraris also retired to the pit lane, joined by the two Porsche Penskes and the Cadillac car.
As the final two minutes ticked down, only the two non-hybrid hypercars of the Glickenhaus and the Vanwall remained on track. Frederic Makowiecki ventured out in the number five Porsche with under two minutes remaining, but did not have enough time to begin a final flying lap.
As the chequered flag flew, the number eight Toyota was confirmed on pole position, with Kobayashi’s best lap in the number seven car securing an all-Toyota front row. The two Ferraris of number 50 and 51 will start third and fourth on the grid, with the two Porsche Penskes split by the number 94 Peugeot behind.
The Cadillac car will start from eighth on the grid ahead of the second number 93 Peugeot, with the two non-hybrid hypercars of Glickenhaus and Vanwall completing the hypercar order.
Prema took pole position in the LMP2 class with the number 63 car, but are under investigation by the stewards after receiving emergency rear bodywork repairs in the pit lane while waiting for the session to begin. In GTE Am, Corvette will start on pole after Ben Keating set the quickest time in the sole C8.R in the field, two tenths of a second faster than the Iron Dames Ferrari.
Six Hours of Portimao Hypercar qualifying results
| Pos | No. | Class | Team | Car | Drivers | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Toyota | Toyota GR010 Hybrid | Sebastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa | 1’30.171 |
| 2 | 7 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Toyota | Toyota GR010 Hybrid | Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Jose Maria Lopez | 1’30.444 |
| 3 | 50 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen | 1’31.596 |
| 4 | 51 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi | 1’31.923 |
| 5 | 6 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Porsche Penske | Porsche 963 | Kevin Estre/Andre Lotterer/Laurens Vanthoor | 1’32.404 |
| 6 | 94 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Peugeot | Peugeot 9X8 | Loic Duval/Gustavo Menezes/Nico Mueller | 1’32.517 |
| 7 | 5 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Porsche Penske | Porsche 963 | Dane Cameron/Michael Christensen/Frederic Makowiecki | 1’32.560 |
| 8 | 2 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Cadillac | Cadillac V-Series.R | Earl Bamber/Alex Lynn/Richard Westbrook | 1’32.582 |
| 9 | 93 | Hypercar (Hybrid) | Peugeot | Peugeot 9X8 | Paul di Resta/Mikkel Jensen/Jean-Eric Vergne | 1’32.703 |
| 10 | 708 | Hypercar | Glickenhaus | Glickenhaus 007 | Romain Dumas/Ryan Briscoe/Olivier Pla | 1’33.343 |
| 11 | 4 | Hypercar | Floyd Vanwall | Vanwall Vandervell 680 | Tom Dillmann/Esteban Guerrieri/Jacques Villeneuve | 1’33.836 |
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