WEC Barcelona: Jaubert scores Genesis' maiden pole

Genesis has its first pole position in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Mathys Jaubert put the #17 Genesis GMR-001 on top of the Hypercar order for the 6 Hours of Barcelona, and at his age he is also the youngest driver ever to start a WEC race from pole. Toyota’s #8 TR010 was second, with the second Genesis in third. In LMGT3, Tom Fleming delivered pole for Garage 59 after arriving at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya only on Saturday morning.

Hypercar qualifying and Hyperpole

The opening session produced some surprises. Both Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyries, both Peugeot 9X8s and both WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s failed to make the Hyperpole cut. The #009 Aston of Alex Riberas missed out by 0.032s, while the #007 car, which had topped Friday’s FP2, will start 12th after Harry Tincknell came up just short. Reigning champion Antonio Giovinazzi was also eliminated in the #51 Ferrari, and Sheldon van der Linde ended up 14th in the #20 BMW, more than a second off the pace. Mathieu Jaminet led the session for Genesis with a 1m30.479s in the #19 car.

In Hyperpole, Jaubert set a 1m30.166s to claim pole by 0.170s from Ryo Hirakawa, who leads the drivers’ standings in the #8 Toyota. Jaminet stopped briefly on track during the session, but by then he had already banked a time good enough for third. That leaves Genesis with two cars on the first two rows, with the Alpine of Charles Milesi, the #35 Signatech A424 on a 1m30.722s, in fourth. Will Stevens was fifth in the #12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R.

Robert Kubica took sixth in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, just ahead of Victor Martins in the second Alpine. The #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco was eighth, followed by Nyck de Vries in the second Toyota, six tenths slower than Hirakawa, and Jack Aitken in the second Cadillac to complete the top ten.

LMGT3 qualifying and Hyperpole

Fleming is competing in both the WEC and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup finale at Portimão this weekend. He therefore missed all of Friday’s practice and turned his first laps in Barcelona during FP3. He took over the #10 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo from Antares Au for Hyperpole and put it on pole, 0.122s ahead of Riccardo Pera in the #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R. It is his second pole of the season, after Imola in April, and he has now topped both of his Hyperpole appearances. “It’s nice to be back on the front row and to keep my 100 per cent Hyperpole streak going,” Fleming said.

Simon Mann was third in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, 0.465s off the pace, after setting the fastest time in FP3. Jonny Edgar was fourth in the #33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R, with Rui Andrade fifth in the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG. Sean Gelael was sixth in the #32 WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo, the car that won at Fuji. Behind them came the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3, the two Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 Evos with the #77 ahead of the #88, and the #34 TF Sport Corvette, which had led the first session with Peter Dempsey.

Neither Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage made Hyperpole. Ian James was 18th and last in the #27 car, which is second in the standings coming into the weekend. Garage 59’s second McLaren, the #58 of Alexander West, was out in the first session in 16th.