Swiss team Cool Racing secured their debut overall pole position in the European Le Mans Series thanks to a 1m34.967 lap by Nico Lapierre. The former 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 champion put in an early lap to take control of the short qualifying period, pushing the no28 IDEC Sport Oreca of Paul Loup Chatin into second place.
Norman Nato in the no26 G-Drive Racing Aurus put in a 1m35.213 in the last couple of minutes of the session to move onto the front row and as the chequered flag approached, he was on an even faster lap to challenge Lapierre for the top spot. However, a red flag was shown before Nato could reach the finish line when the no30 Duqueine Engineering Oreca of Nicolas Jamin went off into the barriers. Jamin was OK as the French driver climbed out of the car as the rest of the field slowed down.
A Very Happy Birthday for Lucas Legeret
After celebrating his 18th birthday on Friday, Lucas Legeret put the icing on his birthday cake by securing the LMP3 pole position at Monza in the no19 M Racing Norma-Nissan after an intense four way battle for the top spot in the class.
The Swiss drivers time of 1m44.017 was two tenths faster than his nearest rival and 1.3 seconds quicker than the class pole of 2018. Colin Noble in the no7 Nielsen Racing Norma was second and will join Legeret on the front row of the LMP3 grid for the 4 Hours of Monza.
The Scot looked like he was going to secure the pole with a 1m44.224 lap time after Legeret’s fifth lap was deleted for track limits, promoting Noble to the top spot as the chequered flag came out. However Legeret had one more lap and he made the most of it to secure his second pole position in three races.
The no10 Oregon Team will start on row two of the LMP3 grid after Damiano Fioravanti challenged hard for pole. The Italian had two fast laps deleted for track limit violations and finished third ahead of the no17 Ultimate of Mattieu Lahaye.
Porsche 1-2 at Monza as Cairoli Celebrates Two from Two
Porsche will fill the front row of the LMGTE grid for the 4 Hours of Monza with local hero Matteo Cairoli claiming his second pole of the 2019 season. The Italian put in two quick laps in the final couple of minutes of the session to post a 1m46.351 lap in the no77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911, 1.2 seconds faster than the 2018 qualifying time.
The no56 Team Project 1 Porsche of Jörg Bergmeister was the quickest driver in the early part of the session, posting a 1m46.270 on his first flying lap. Row two of the LMGTE grid will be filled by two Ferraris. The no55 Spirit of Race F488 GTE of Matt Griffin was third fastest, with the no60 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Andrea Piccini in 4th.
The 4 Hours of Monza will take place on Sunday 12 May at 12h00 (CET)
