LMGTE & GTC : Ferrari and Audi claim first class pole positions of the 2013 ELMS season

On a damp track but using slick Michelin tyres, the British driver in the white No.52 Ferrari 458 Italia set his fastest time of 2:03.358 on his fourth flying lap and it was good enough to beat the No.77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of local driver Nick Tandy into second place by three tenths of a second.   By a tiny margin of just three one hundredths of a second, Tandy's Porsche claimed his front row place ahead of the No.75 Prospeed Competition Porsche of Emmanuel Collard and Francois Perrodo (2.02.685), both of whom took part in qualifying.  Behind these two Porsches was the No.55 AF Corse car of former FIA GT3 champion Federico Leo who set a best lap of 2:02.731 to place his Ferrari on the second row of the class grid.

In GTC, the three class entries were grouped together from 6th to 8th on the GTE grid, with the No.65 MOMO Megatron DF1 Audi R8 LMS taking class pole.  Polish driver KubaGiermaziakset a fastest time of 2:03.484 ahead of the No.79 EcurieEcosse BMW Z4 of Andrew Smith and the No.62 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Lorenzo Casé.

There is now just three hours until the season's racing starts in earnest, with the green flag for the 3 Hours of Silverstone due to drop at 3:00 pm this afternoon.