WEC
On GTE Pro pole, Dries Vanthoor finds it hard to believe it
Dries Vanthoor (Porsche) will start on GTE Pro pole at the 24 2021 Hours of Le Mans. © François Flamand / DPPI
This is unheard of in GTE Pro since 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans. A private team, at least not benefiting from the direct support of a manufacturer, screwed the factory teams in qualifying. What's more, the Hub Auto Racing training is discovering Sarthe this month of August!
Also a rookie in GTE Pro, but winner of GTE Am in 2017, Dries Vanthoor was the man of the evening this Thursday August 19. Dans le bon coup lors des essais du mercredi, le Belge de 23 ans s’est surpassé au moment où l’un des favoris pour la pole, Kévin Estre (Porsche n°92) partait dans le décor au virage d’Indianapolis.
“It’s pretty crazy what’s happening, we’re ahead of the factory teams”, exclaimed the little brother of Laurens Vanthoor, who shares the wheel with Alvaro Parente and Maxime Martin. “Facing the Corvette, Porsche and Ferrari official, it's not obvious. This is a good thing for Porsche, it proves that the 911 RSR works well no matter which team runs it. »
The native of Heusden-Zolder comes out of a very successful edition of the 24 Hours of Spa. Starting last, he moved up to second place after leading until a quarter of an hour from the end, in the rain.
Dries Vanthoor is used to the vagaries of the weather, and so much the better for him because the sky should let go on Sunday in Sarthe. “Rain is forecast for Sunday, that might spice things up. We always say that we can go faster, but in my case, it wasn't feasible. I did an almost perfect lap (in 3'46″882, or 181 thousandths). »
It's good to start first but the race will be long and anything can happen. Rain is forecast for Sunday, that might spice things up. We can have a more relaxed start thanks to this starting position but we must not relax. »
In any case, Laurens Vanthoor shared a laudatory tweet towards the youngest of the family: “So proud of Dries! Unbelievable.. I'm going to have to raise my game, otherwise I'm going to have some bad luck at dinner (of family) of Christmas. »
So incredibly proud of @vanthoordries1 ! Unbelievable.. I'll need to step up, if not I'm going to get a lot of crap at Christmas dinner.
— Laurens Vanthoor (@VanthoorLaurens) August 19
Medhi Casaurang
Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!
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