6 Hours of Shanghai qualifying : Toyota dominate

Photo : Pascal SAIVET - www.visionsport-agency.com

This is the second consecutive pole for the Toyota TS030 Hybrid, and the third since its first appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In qualifying, the Japanese prototype and two Audi e-tron quattro R18 were in the same second. In the fight for the drivers' world title, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish are still in with a chance beating their team-mates Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer, the current leaders of the standings. Fourth on the grid will be David Brabham, Peter Dumbreck and Karun Chandhok (JRM Honda HPD ARX-03a) the highest placed private team in LM P1 prototypes.

The Lola-Lotus of Jan Charouz, Kevin Weeda and James Rossiter was the fastest in LMP2 prototypes, while Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner put the Aston Martin V8 Vantage its third pole position in LM GTE Pro in four races. In LM GTE Am, the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Paolo Ruberti, Gianluca Roda and Christian Ried (Team Felbermayr-Proton) set the best time, sending a strong message to the Larbre Corvette, their direct opponents for the class title, who qualified third behind the Ferrari 458 Italia AF Corse-Waltrip.

The eighth and final round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Shanghai will be on the 28th of October. The start will be at 3am UK time, you can follow live on www.lemans-tv.com. for more information click HERE.

Jean-Philippe Doret

Photo: SHANGHAI (PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA) SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, 6 HOURS OF SHANGHAI, QUALIFYING, October 27, 2012. Nicolas Lapierre (left) and Alexander Wurz will start from the pole for the third time this season.