The no7 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid will start the 6 Hours of Shanghai in pole position, the fourth time the Japanese manufacturer has claimed the top spot in China.

Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway set an average lap time of 1m42.931s to claim second their pole position of the season and finish 0.2 seconds ahead of the no8 Toyota Fernando Alonso and Kazuki Nakajima to make it another Toyota 1-2.

Rebellion Racing will start third as the no1 R13-Gibson of Andre Lotterer and Bruno Senna set an average lap of 1m43.218s, just 0.287s behind the no7 Toyota and just 0.059s from securing a front row position for tomorrow’s race, which is round 5 of the 2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship.

The no17 SMP Racing BR1-AER will complete row 2 of the grid after Stephane Sarrazin and Egor Orudzhev finished the 20 minute session just under a second behind the lead Toyota.

Chinese fans will have something to celebrate as the home heroes Jackie Chan DC Racing claimed the LMP2 pole position. Ho-Pin Tung and Gabriel Aubry claimed their first pole of the season in no38 Oreca-Gibson with an average time of 1m48.888.

The LMP2 front row will also feature the second Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca as Jazeman Jaafar and Nabil Jeffri finished 0.250s behind their teammates.

The no31 Dragonspeed Oreca-Gibson was third after Pastor Maldonado and Roberto Gonzalez posted an average lap of 1m49.857, with the no36 Signatech Alpine Matmut A470 completing row 2 on the class grid.

Ford and Aston Martin Secure GTE Poles in China

Stefan Mucke put in a fast lap right at the end of the qualifying session to secure the third pole position from five attempts for Ford and the second of the season for the no66 Ford GT. Mucke and Pla set an average lap of 1m58.627 around the 5.4km Shanghai International Circuit. The Ford was 0.247s ahead of the no81 BMW M8 of Martin Tomczyk and Nicky Catsburg and three tenth ahead of the no97 Aston Martin Vantage of Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin.

The leading Porsche was the no92 911 RSR of Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen in fourth spot and four tenths behind the pole car. The no51 AF Corse Ferrari of reigning world champions James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi could only manage the ninth fastest time, 0.8 seconds behind the top car and nearly two tenths ahead of their teammates. The no64 Chevrolet Corvette of Tommy Milner and Olly Gavin was down in 11th with a 2m00.228 average lap.

Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana secured their fourth consecutive 6 Hours of Shanghai LMGTE Am pole position together in the no98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage and it was Lamy’s fifth pole in a row. The Portuguese driver posting his fastest lap of the session at the chequered flag to move the no98 Aston Martin to the top of the timesheets with an average 2m01.884 lap, just 0.067s ahead of the no77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Christian Ried and Matt Campbell.

Jose-Maria Lopez set the fastest time in the second Free Practice session in China, the Argentine setting a 2m02.259 lap late in the 90-minute session. 

The tricky track conditions caused by the rain meant that several cars slid off the track during the session, with the fastest time set by the no7 Toyota was nearly eight seconds slower than the earlier practice session.

Kazuki Nakajima set the best time in the no8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, the Japanese driver’s lap of 2m02.504 just 0.245s behind Lopez and just 0.169s ahead of the no3 Rebellion R13-Gibson of Thomas Laurent.

Ferrari headed the LMGTE Pro category, with reigning world champion James Calado claiming the top spot in FP2 with a 2m14.315s lap, despite an early trip into the gravel at Turn 2 which brought out a Full Course Yellow.  BMW continued to show strong pace in China, with Antonio Felix da Costa finishing the session with a 2m14.964 in the no82 BMW M8, just 0.019s ahead of Maxime Martin in the no97 Aston Martin Vantage.

The no37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca of Jazeman Jaafar was once again at the top of the LMP2 time sheets, the Malaysian’s 2m10.869 lap out pacing the no36 Signatech Alpine Matmut A470 of Andre Negrao by just 0.027s.  The no28 TDS Racing Oreca of Matthieu Vaxiviere was third quickest, despite losing a wheel and causing the second and final Full Course Yellow of Free Practice 2.

The no54 Spirit of Race Ferrari was the best of the nine cars, with Giancarlo Fisichella topping the time sheets with a 2m16.835s and it was a Ferrari 1-2 when Matt Griffin went second quickest in the no61 Clearwater Racing F488, the Irishman finishing just 0.043s behind the Italian.

Under sunny skies and on a dry track the final practice session of the 6 Hours of Shanghai weekend saw Rebellion Racing take a 1-2, with Bruno Senna setting the fastest overall time for Swiss team. Senna’s best of 1m45.137s was ahead of the No.3 R13-Gibson’s best, set by Thomas Laurent, by just 0.019s

Toyota Gazoo Racing were third and fourth after a busy session for Japanese manufacturer. No.8 Toyota TS 050 HYBRID was third, with Kazuki Nakajima setting a best lap of 1m45.164s. The top three overall covered by just 0.027s.

Aston Martin head the LMGTE Pro class, with Nicki Thiim posting a 1m59.628s lap, eclipsing Ford’s Olivier Pla’s early session best by 0.230s. Porsche make it three manufacturers in the top three with the no92 911 of Michael Christensen in third at the end of the 60 minute session.

Dragonspeed was fastest in LMP2 with former FIA WEC Wordd Champion Anthony setting a 1m50.907, just 0.05s ahead of the no36 Signatech Alpine Matmut A470 of Nico Lapierre. Jackie Chan DC Racing continue their fine run of speed at their home event, finishing the session third and fourth.

The LMGTE Am category saw Clearwater Racing’s Matt Griffin set the best time in the no61 Ferrari with a 2m01.583 best lap. It was Ferrari 1-2 as the no54 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella was 0.2 seconds behind the lead gar with a 2m01.841 lap.

The first free practice session of the 6 Hours of Shanghai weekend saw the cars begin the 90-minute session on a wet track after early morning rain. 

The track remained damp throughout the practice session that saw the no8 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid top the time sheets with Sebastien Buemi setting a 1m54.768 lap, 1.5 seconds ahead of the no7 Toyota and over four seconds ahead of the rest of the field headed by the no17 SMP Racing BR1-AER, with Matevos Isaakyan posting a 1m58.880 lap.

BMW Team MTEK were that fastest of the 11 LMGTE Pro entries, the German manufacturer topping the time sheets ahead of Porsche and Aston Martin.  Martin Tomczyk set a 2m09.830 lap in the no81 BMW M8 GTE, over two seconds ahead of Richard Lietz in no91 Porsche 911 and the no97 Aston Martin Vantage of Maxime Martin. The no64 Corvette Racing C7.R set a best time of 2m13.41 to finish the first session 7^th quickest on the American manufacturers FIA WEC first race outside of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The no37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca was the fastest of the seven car LMP2 field after Jazeman Jaafar set a 2m02.923. The 6 Hours of Fuji race winner finished 0.6 seconds ahead of the no29 Racing Team Nederland Dallara of Nyck de Vries and a further 0.7 seconds ahead Loic Duval in the no28 TDS Racing Oreca-Gibson.

Aston Martin led the way in the LMGTE Am category with the no90 TF Sport Vantage posting the fastest lap in the wet conditions.  Charlie Eastwood posted a 2m11.764, 1.7 seconds ahead of the no77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche of Matt Campbell and 1.8  of the no61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari.