JOTA Sport and Ferrari take the Red Bull By The Horns

It was one of the most fantastic qualifying sessions seen so far, with all the key players in the LMP2 category taking their turn at the head of the classifications.  In the end, and only after an extremely hotly contested session, it was Briton Harry Tincknell who claimed fastest lap with a time of 1:23.078, more than eight tenths quicker than the pole position set last year by the same car - the No.38 JOTA Sport Zytek Z11SN - at the same track (1:23.871) and almost half a second quicker than his rivals.

The only ORECA03 on the grid in Austria, the No.34 of Race Performance – will start from the front row alongside the British team, thanks to superb lap of 1:23.561 set this morning by Frenchman Franck Mailleux.

On the second row will be the new Ligier JS P2 of Thiriet by TDS Racing after Tristan Gommendy turned a lap of 1:23.613,  with the No.43 NewBlood by Morand Racing Morgan Judd of local star Christian Klien just 0.150s behind (1:23.763).

The third row will be occupied by the Signatech Alpine A450b (1:23.785 – Nelson Panciatici) and the No.41 Zytek of Greaves Motorsport (Tom Kimber-Smith - 1.23.995).  The No.28 entry of the British team will be on the fourth row of the grid (Luciano Bacheta - 1:23.997), alongside the Morgan Judd of Pegasus Racing (Julien Schell - 1:25.449).

It was a Ferrari double pole in the LMGTE and GTC qualifying session for the 4 Hours of the Red Bull Ring. 

Andrea Bertolini took the second pole position of the season for the no72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia, setting a 1m29.286 lap two minutes before the chequered flag to push Richard Lietz off the top spot in the no77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR by 0.2 seconds.  2013 FIA WEC LMGTE Am Drivers Champion Stuart Hall put the no85 Gulf Racing Aston Martin Vantage at the head of row two, 0.086s ahead of fellow Brit Rob Bell in the no66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458, the only Dunlop shod LMGTE car on the 13 car grid, the other 12 cars choosing Michelin rubber.

Jan Magnussen posted the fastest lap of the GTC class, the Dane taking charge early on in the 20-minute session and improving several times in the no60 Formula Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 to take the chequered flag with a lap of 1:30.647, 0.169s ahead of Kevin Korjus in the no98 Art Grand Prix McLaren MP4 12C GT3.  Row two in the 12 car GTC class is an all Ferrari affair with the no95 AF Corse 458 of Cedric Sbirrazzuoli just ahead of the no 73 SMP Racing Ferrari of Olivier Beretta.

The start of the 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring will be given at 14h00 and before then fans and enthusiasts can meet the drivers in the pit lane for the autograph session from 12h15 to 24h45.

Qualifying Results