Team Turkey Take Pole As Sarah Bovey Makes ELMS History | Watch the 4 Hours Of Portimao LIVE
The no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca-Gibson of Jack Aitken took the teams first pole position with a last lap of 1m32.375 to snatch the single championship point from Prema Racing which would’ve secured the Italian Team the 2022 ELMS Team and Driver titles ahead of tomorrow’s 4 Hours of Portimao.
The 10-minute session began with Louis Deletraz putting the no9 Prema Racing Oreca at the top of the timing screens with a 1m32.762 lap of the 4.653km Portuguese circuit, just 0.059s ahead of championship rivals Panis Racing with Job Van Uitert at the wheel of the no65 Oreca-Gibson.
The two rivals were then pushed down the order as James Allen put the no47 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca on provisional pole, with the no31 TDS Racing by Vaillante Oreca of Mathias Beche going second and Jack Aitken in the no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca in third.
With 4 minutes to go there was a rush of cars into the pits for fresh rubber, with Deletraz putting his Prema Racing Oreca back on top with a 1m32.467 lap and seemingly unstoppable as the rest of the field took the chequered flag.However the smiles in the Prema Racing garage vanished as Jack Aitken put the Racing Team Turkey Oreca on pole by just 0.072s as he crossed the line for the final time in the 10-minute session.
LMP3: Malthe Jakobsen’s Historic Qualifying Clean Sweep
Malthe Jakobsen became the first driver to score six poles from six attempts in a single ELMS season when the Dane put his Cool Racing Ligier at the head of the 13-car field for the final race of the 2022 season in Portugal.
Kay Van Berlo was the quickest of the 13 runners early in the session in the no3 United Autosports Ligier but was soon bumped off the top spot, first by the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of championship leader Guilherme Oliveira, the Portuguese driver setting a 1m37.706 but was himself bumped off the top spot within 5 seconds by the no17 Cool Racing Ligier of Malthe Jakobsen, the Dane posting a 1m37.637.
Oliveira lowered the mark on his next lap with a 1m37.275 but, once again, lost out when the no17 Ligier crossed the line, with Jakobsen lapping in 1m37.100, which was good enough to clinch his sixth pole.
Kay Van Berlo will head the second row after a late fast lap of 1:37.570 in the no3 United Autosports Ligier, pushing the no4 DKR Engineering Duqueine of Sebastian Alvarez into 4th by 0.1s.
LMGTE: Sarah Bovy Takes Debut ELMS Pole
Sarah Bovy becomes the first female driver to secure a class pole position in the ELMS with a 1m41.888 lap in the no83 Iron Lynx Ferrari with just 4 seconds left on the clock in the 10-minute qualifying session ahead of the 4 Hours of Portimao.
The no66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari driven by Giacomo Petrobelli set the early pace, the Italian posting a 1m41.916 lap.The no69 Oman Racing with TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage of Ahmad Al Harthy going second, before being bumped down the order first by the no32 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari as Diego Alessi set a 1m42.015, just 0.099s behind and then Sarah Bovy went second quickest with a 1m41.943, 0.027s behind Petrobelli.
As the clock counted towards zero, the no66 Ferrari pitted with Bovy going quicker, and the Belgian driver went across the line in a 1m41.888, 0.028s ahead.The no83 Iron Lynx ‘Iron Dames’ Ferrari will be on pole position after finishing second in qualifying in Imola, Monza and Barcelona.
