WEC – Audi blows hot and cold at Fuji

André Lotterer et Benoît Tréluyer sont parvenus à établir la meilleure moyenne aux qualifications des 6 Heures de Fuji où Audi se retrouve à nouveau face à deux Toyota. En signant un temps moyen de 1’26 »577 sur le circuit du constructeur nippon, les deux pilotes de la R18 n°1 s’offrent une belle opportunité de réduire leur retard au Championnat, même si la première TS030 n’a échoué qu’à un dixième du temps référence. “It’s a great result. I managed to set my time in two laps and Benoît was then able to get by with tires that were still cold”, comments André Lotterer. “He did a reconnaissance tour before pulling the pin. The competition is strong and we are delighted to be ahead of the two Toyotas. It’s a home event for me and I hope the weekend continues like this. »

Loïc duval, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen may fear seeing their lead disappear at the end of the Japanese event. The crew of the No. 18 R2 was further behind since the first two were only able to qualify the LMP1 eight tenths from pole, more than half a second behind the second Toyota. The Championship leaders were handicapped following the contact with the Aston Martin n°95 driven by Kristian Poulsen who reduced the Audi's running time during free practice. “It wasn’t the style of qualifying we expected.”, comments the Frenchman who completed the qualifications with the Scotsman. “We need to find where we are losing performance because things were better yesterday and this morning. We may have made a mistake with the settings. These are only qualifications and the race will be very long. We don't go far from others. I congratulate my teammates on their qualifications. »

See you tomorrow at 4:00 a.m. (French time) for the start of the 6 Hours of Fuji. Click on this link to watch the qualifying session in full.