First pole position for the #20 Porsche

Each time Porsche had signed a pole position in the World ChampionshipEndurance this season (three times, at Spa in Belgium, in China, and in Bahrain) the German brand owed it to the trio of the No. 919 14 Hybrid, composed of Neel Jani, Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas. At Interlagos in Brazil, the Mark Webber pair? Timo Bernhard, designated for qualifying yesterday afternoon, was finally able to place the No. 20 at the top of the starting grid, for the season finale.

"I'm so happy, and it's hard to find words, admits Timo Bernhard. Over the past few races, our car has been very strong in qualifying, and the sister #14 has taken pole position on several occasions. Now we managed to get there too. We had very little tire degradation, which helped. It was a great battle in the end. It's my first time here at Interlagos, the track is just awesome. »

For Mark Webber, accustomed to the Brazilian track following his career in F1, qualifying did not start in the best way, but the Australian recovered perfectly to win his first pole in WEC. “I missed on my first attempt, but Timo was super fast. But, as it's the average lap time that counts, I got back in the car to try to improve. Luckily it worked, and I'm delighted with my final lap. We are looking forward to the race. »

The 6 Hours of São Paolo will begin at 16 p.m. French time.