After 2 practice sessions on Friday and Saturday morning, it was time for qualifying on 3:45 pm local time with sunny weather and just over 26°C track temperature. There was plenty of action and dramas across all categories and the title fight is surely going to be a thriller tomorrow at Algarve International Circuit. Here is the qualifying report from all 3 classes.
LMP2
First out on track in LMP2 class was the #21 DragonSpeed of Ben Hanley, who wasted no time to get his first lap in 1:31.312s ahead of the title contender #11 Eurointernational.
Second of the 2 title contenders, G-Drive decided to stay in pits for most of the session, to get a quick one-lap assault towards the end. However, Jean-Eric Vergne's effort just gained him 6th place before further getting relegated to 8th place after chequered flags by quicker cars. His 1:32.505s lap was more than a second off the pace with championship battle all to play for tomorrow.
At the end, it was countryman Filipe Albuquerque, who set a stunning lap after chequered flags to get pole position with a 1:31.244s.
Joining him on front row for tomorrow's race is #21 DragonSpeed of Ben Hanley, who put a brilliant lap towards the end after being on top in early stages of the session.
Further down the road, #28 IDEC Sport is starting 5th, going into the final round of championship with 13-point deficit.
"First lap was nothing special cause of traffic. But luckily on second lap, we were way quicker. Thanks to the team. I am delighted to make people here happy at my home track with this pole position," said Albuquerque.
The session ran without any stoppages, although a pair of incidents happened midway through the session.
First one of them was between #34 Inter Europol and #31 Algarve Pro Racing, with #34 spinning the #31. Second incident was of #39 GRAFF, who spun after losing the rear of the car on a good lap.
LMP3
#17 Ultimate was first out on track with Matt Lahaye behind the wheel of Norma M30, while tieing on the championship lead #11 Eurointernational and #34 Inter Europol followed behind.
The Ultimate car was first to set a timed lap, going 1:40.007s. But that stayed for just few seconds, as #19 M Racing went to the top. After first flurry of laps, it was Matt Lahaye on top with 1:39.179s, ahead of David Droux in #9 RealTeam Racing, setting a 1:39.460s.
With chequered flags out, #13 Inter Europol pitted, meaning they would start 9th for championship fight.
But on the front it was #19 M Racing of Lucas Legeret, whose time set midway through 10-minute session remained unbeatable, as he clinched the pole for #9 RealTeam and #17 Ultimate.
"Hoping for the best in tomorrow's race. A great session after a long season. Hopefully we end the year on a high," said Legeret.
LMGTE
With championship battle settled in LMGTE the round before at Spa, a 2nd place finish is still very much hotly being contested, with 3 teams in shot of getting 2nd place and automatic entry for Le Mans while Ebimotors returned for the final race of the season after absence in last 2 rounds.
#77 Dempsey-Proton was first on track with Matteo Cairoli, ahead of #60 Kessel Racing Ferrari. The action started quite early, as Cairoli was quickest after first lap, ahead of Thomas Preining in #88 Proton Porsche, setting 1:41.121s.
Soon afterwards, Andrea Paccini in #60 Kessel went wide into the gravel but got back on track and immediately pitted, with several cars following him after first laps to get fresher tyres towards the end, leaving the Ebimotors Porsche alone on track.
#60 Kessel bounced back to finish an impressive 2nd, just moments before the chequered flag was waved to set a 1:41.253s.
He was then beaten to second place by Preining in the #88 Proton Porsche, whose quickest lap was just 0.120s off the sister car, getting an all-Porsche front row.
"That was a really good lap. I really enjoyed driving the car. We did a good lap on first set of tyres but couldn't get the same pace on second sets. Still pretty satisfied with the job today and hoping to put a strong fight upfront," said Matteo Cairoli.
The final race of ELMS season will get underway tomorrow at 12:30 pm local time.
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