“That was an absolutely perfect lap. With new tyres and little gas in the tank my car simply flew today,” said Timo Bernhard describing his lap record. “The RS Spyder is fast whether on bumpy, narrow city circuits or on flat tracks like here. We have proven this today,” said the delighted 26-year-old Porsche works driver, who together with his team mate Romain Dumas (France) clearly lead the championship after securing overall victories twice in succession.
„This lap is a credit to the whole team,” praised head of technology Dieter Steinhauser. “On this 7.240 kilometre circuit with a total of 24 corners the much improved aerodynamics of the RS Spyder compared to last year came into its own. Penske Motorsports sent Timo Bernhard out on the track at exactly the right time and Timo then promptly posted the fastest lap on the weekend first-up,” analysed Steinhauser.
The two RS Spyder fielded by Dyson Racing achieved their best qualifying result to date, qualifying ahead of the best vehicles in the more-powerful
LMP1 class. Guy Smith (Great Britain) takes up the race in the 503 hp #20 RS Spyder from the second row of the grid, with his team mate and compatriot Andy Wallace planting the #16 sports prototype, developed and built in Weissach, on seventh position.
The race on Saturday gets undrway at 5.05pm local time (01.05 CET Sunday) and runs over 2:45 minutes.
Qualifying result
1. Timo Bernhard (D), Porsche RS Spyder (LMP2), 2.18.128 minutes 2. Sascha Maassen (D), Porsche RS Spyder (LMP2), 0.680 seconds behind 3. Luis Diaz (MEX), Acura ARX (LMP2), 1.315 4. Guy Smith (GB), Porsche RS Spyder (LMP2), 1.969 5. Stefan Johansson (USA), Acura ARX (LMP2), 2.261 6. Bryan Herta (USA), Acura ARX (LMP2), 2.520 7. Andy Wallace (GB), Porsche RS Spyder (LMP2), 2.592 8. Rinaldo Capello (I), Audi R10 (LMP1), 2.915 9. Emanuele Pirro (I), Audi R10 (LMP1), 3.322 10. Ben Devlin (GB), Lola B07 Mazda (LMP2), 6.795