Motorsport: Neel Jani starts from pole position with Porsche (today TV live)
MOTORSPORT A day of jubilation for the Swiss in Belgium. First, Neel Jani and André Lotterer on Porsche 919 Hybrid set the fastest time in qualifying for today's World Endurance Championship round at Spa (TV live). Then Stefano Comini won the race of the international TCR series on Friday. This is how every race day could go from a Swiss perspective - with positive surprises. "Today we're driving [...]
From a Swiss perspective, every race day could go like this - with positive surprises. "For once, we won't be competing for pole position today, but maybe things will look a bit better for us in the race," Neel Jani told AutoSprintCH shortly before the start of practice.
Wrong - the man from Biel conjured up a lap never thought possible on the 7 km asphalt of the Belgian GP circuit. After that, his new partner André Lotterer did his part to ensure that the Porsche team with starting number 1 tackles the second WRC round from the best grid position starting at 2:30 p.m. today.
"Everything was a perfect fit. We had unexpectedly good grip and then managed to implement these ideal conditions," exulted the world champion.
Today's race, however, is a different matter: After two gray, cool days, the sun is shining from a cloudless sky in the Ardennes today, so the outside temperatures will rise. "These are new conditions that everyone must now adjust to with their vehicle setups. Because this will also slightly change the handling of the cars and the tire wear," says Jani.
His goal is clear: "Actually, we didn't necessarily see ourselves as favorites here because of the aerodynamics, which are tuned for Le Mans with low downforce. But now we will do everything we can to clinch victory."
However, Sébastien Buemi has the same plans. The driver from Vaud is on the second row of the grid in his Toyota TS050 Hybrid. Unlike Porsche, Toyota is fielding a third car in preparation for Le Mans.
The sports prototypes developed in Germany were slightly faster than Porsche in all the free practice sessions, but didn't get everything together at the decisive moment in the chase for times. Buemi also did without new tires for his lap in order to save them for the race. There was also a problem with his car that still has to be solved for the race.
Jonathan Hirschi also has a good starting position for a podium finish. The LMP2 sports car of the man from Neuchâtel was fourth fastest in its class in qualifying, just ahead of Geneva-based Mathias Beche from the Vaillante Rebellion team. Simon Trummer's car, on the other hand, has to start from the very back of the grid after a practice accident. His teammate, ex-GP driver Vitaly Petrov, slammed into a tire pile during the warm-up lap of the time chase...
The 6 Hours of Spa will be broadcast this afternoon on free TV from 2 to 3 p.m. and 6.30 to 7 p.m. on Sport1. From 7:30 p.m., Eurosport1 will then also show the final phase live.
Stefano Comini shows the master
After qualifying for the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the TCR International Series held its first of two races over nine laps (just under 50 km). This race was dominated by Stefano Comini. The jovial man from Ticino took pole in the Audi RS3 LMS of a Belgian team, which he then skillfully converted into victory.
For the defending champion, it is the third triumph in a row after the only Audi customer team in this unofficial world championship for two-liter front-wheel-drive cars had already contested two rounds of the TCR Benelux at this track two weeks earlier in preparation and won with Comini.
