Toyota claimed its first pole position of the 2024 World Endurance Championship campaign as it blocked out the front row for Sunday’s Sao Paulo 6 Hours.
Kamui Kobayashi took the top spot in the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID in the 10-minute Hyperpole session for the fastest 10 cars in opening qualifying.
The Japanese driver’s 1m23.140s around the Interlagos circuit gave him a a margin of just over one tenth from team-mate Sebastien Buemi in the sister #8 Toyota Le Mans Hypercar.
Buemi, who was qualifying a Toyota for the first time since the 2019/20 WEC series opener at Silverstone, jumped to second with a 1m23.262s.
Matt Campbell, bidding for a third pole in five races this season, ended up third in the best of the factory Penske-run Porsche 963 LMDhs on a 1m23.331s.
Alex Lynn took fourth position for Cadillac, the Brit setting a 1m23.396s in the solo Ganassi-run V-Series.R LMDh.
The second Porsche Penske Motorsport entry with Le Mans 24 Hours pole winner Kevin Estre driving took fifth position on a 1m23.408s.
Top Ferrari driver was Antonio Fuoco in the Le Mans-winning entry in sixth with a 1m23.532s in the #50 499P LMH.
#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Callum Ilott claimed seventh for the Jota customer Porsche team ahead of team-mate Jenson Button in the British team’s sister entry, just six hundredths separating the two cars.
The second AF Corse-run factory Ferrari ended up ninth in the hands of Alessandro Pier Guidi, while Robin Frijns, whose late lap had sent him through to the final round of qualifying, ended up 10th in the #20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh.
The Dutch driver’s 1m24.078s was, however, still within a second of the pace.
Neither Alpine nor Peugeot made it through to Hyperpole after failing to get in the top 10 positions in the 12-minute opening session.
Mick Schumacher ended up 11th in the best of the Alpine A424 LMDhs and team-mate Charles Milesi 13th in the sister car, though both cars were within seven tenths of Campbell who topped the times in Q1.
The two Peugeot 9X8 2024 LMHs were 16th and 17th in the hands of Paul di Resta and Jean-Eric Vergne.
Lamborghini on top in LMGT3
Sarah Bovy took a second LMGT3 class pole of the year in the Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.
#85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2: Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
She posted a 1m34.413s in the Iron Lynx-run car to end up nearly four tenths clear of the 1m34.804s with which Aliaksandr Malykhin claimed second in the Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3-R during the 10-minute Hyperpole session.
The two United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos took third and fourth on the grid, Josh Caygill edging out James Cottingham by just five hundredths of a second.
Yasser Shahin took fifth in the championship-leading Manthey EMA Porsche despite carrying 45kg of success ballast.
The Sao Paulo 6 Hours, round five of the 2024 WEC, begins at 11:30 local time on Sunday.