ELMS – Panis-Barthez mates the competition in qualifying in Austria

Thanks to Paul-Loup Chatin in LM P2 and Simon Gachet in LM P3, the Panis-Barthez Compétition took a double pole position during the qualifying session on the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Quickly at the forefront, the No. 2 Ligier JS P23 continued to remain at the top of the hierarchy throughout the session, Chatin concluding with a final timed lap set in 1’20″700 for a first pole in the championship ELMS.

Behind the French team, TDS Racing failed in second position with the No. 05 Oreca 46 of Mathias Beche, which failed by 53 thousandths in its quest for pole. Harry Tincknell places G-Drive Racing's Gibson 015S-Nissan in third position at 126 thousandths. Tristan Gommendy (Eurasia Motorsport) and Nicolas lapierre (DragonSpeed), author of a spin during his final attempt, complete the top 5.

In LM P3, the fight quickly turned into a three-way match between Panis-Barthez Compétition, United Autosports and Duqueine Engineering at the end of a session interrupted by a red flag, following the Ligier JS P3 stopping on track n°8 in Race Performance.

With a final time established in 1’26”126, Simon Gachet allowed the team of Olivier Panis and Fabien Barthez, supported by Tech 1 Racing, to win its first pole of the season on the European scene. Wayne Boyd failed 157 thousandths behind the French driver, while David Droux placed the Ligier JS P3 Duqueine 268 thousandths behind in third position.

Already dominant in free practice, la Porsche 911 RSR n°88 du Proton Competition de Roda – Ried – Cairoli was once again the fastest in qualifying. Led by Matteo Cairoli, Junior Porsche driver, very lively since yesterday in Austria, the German GT is 121 thousandths ahead of the Ferrari 458 Italia from Andrea Bertolini's JMW Motorsport. Alessandro Pier Guidi, on the AT Racing F458 Italia completes the top three in the category ahead of the two AF Corse Ferraris of Marco Cioci and Matt Griffin and theAston Martin Vantage by Darren Turner.

The race will start tomorrow at 14 p.m. in Spielberg and can be followed live on our website.

Results Qualifications