Toyota claims pole at Monza; Estre takes 2021 pole hat-trick
Toyota will start from a 1-2 position for tomorrow’s WEC 6 Hours of Monza, round three of FIA WEC, after Jose Maria Lopez set the fastest time in the 10 minute qualifying session this evening.
Porsche took pole as Kevin Estre swept to his third consecutive top spot in the No.92 Porsche 911 RSR 19.
Below are the main headlines from qualifying…
Hypercar
• Jose-Maria Lopez in No.7 Toyota GR010-Hybrid Hypercar takes 0.7s off this morning’s best time as Argentine sets a rapid best lap of 1m35.899s
• Lopez recovers from lock-up at first chicane on his first push lap which he was forced to abandon
• No. 8 Toyota is second as Brendon Hartley sets 1m35.961s to make it another Toyota 1-2
• Alpine ELF Matmut third as Nicolas Lapierre laps in 1m36.121s after car is repaired from early morning accident
• Pipo Derani ensures Glickenhaus Racing start on outside of the second row as he claims a fastest lap of 1m36.995s
• The second Glickenhaus 007 LMH car is fifth as Richard Westbrook qualifies 0.328 in arrears to teammate
And starting from pole position in Hypercar will be...@pechito37 and his @TGR_WEC #7. Bravo to everyone at Toyota for another great performance!#WEC #6HMonza pic.twitter.com/meqGMDTElU
— WEC (@FIAWEC) July 17, 2021
LMGTE Pro
• Porsche takes pole in LMGTE Pro class as No.92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 driven by Kevin Estre sets best time of 1m45.412s
• Estre celebrates third consecutive pole position of the 2021 season
• French ace’s best time is just 0.065s faster than chasing No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi
• No.91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Gimmi Bruni places third but half a second away from sister Porsche
• No. 52 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo driven by Miguel Molina places fourth in second AF Corse entry
The question is, who can stop him? It's another pole (third one in 2021) for @kevinestre and the @PorscheRaces #92 in the LMGTE Pro class.#WEC #6HMonza pic.twitter.com/xCsr53GW78
— WEC (@FIAWEC) July 17, 2021
LMP2
• Charles Milesi sets 1m38.527 to claim first WEC pole for Team WRT
• Milesi’s lap just pips Filipe Albuquerque who sets brilliant last ditch lap to get within 0.030s in United Autosport USA car
• Ben Hanley driven Dragonspeed USA place entry sets third best lap of 1m38.663s. Team is also the leading Pro/Am entry in LMP2.
• Racing Team Nederland place fourth as Nyck de Vries laps in 1m38.726s
• JOTA suffer difficult session as No.28 car driven by Stoffel Vandoorne crashes heavily at second Lesmo corner and causes session to be red flagged
• Anthony Davidson sets late lap to claim sixth in second Jota car
New to the #WEC in 2021, @followWRT will start from the LMP2 pole position tomorrow. Well done to @Charles_Milesi and all the team.#WEC #6HMonza pic.twitter.com/ddlys7zzEN
— WEC (@FIAWEC) July 17, 2021
LMGTE Am
• TF Sport Aston Martin takes second pole of the 2021 season as Ben Keating flies to a 1m47.272s best lap after titanic battle
• No.83 AF Corse squad second with a best lap set by Francois Perrodo just 0.269s back from Keating’s pole time
• Cetilar Racing place third as Roberto Lacorte laps within 0.409s of pole as team continues fightback after practice accident
What a legend! Ben Keating (@keatingcarguy) has done it again, second pole position for him and @OfficialTFSport in Monza.#WEC #6HMonza pic.twitter.com/QQoCaF7sJ7
— WEC (@FIAWEC) July 17, 2021
Tomorrow’s race – the inaugural 6 Hours of Monza – will commence at 12h00 local time.
