Danny Watts claimed his first pole position at the wheel of a prototype in qualifying for tomorrow's opening round of the Le Mans Series at Barcelona.
Watts, 29, set a best time of 1m32.462 aboard the Strakka Racing Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S to seal pole. An all-British front row was completed when Darren Turner was second fastest in the #009 Lola-Aston Martin with a time just half a second slower.
Watts, who was qualifying a prototype for the first time, said: "The car was perfect. It was easy to drive, felt comfortable in every corner and was really consistent. We didn't show our hand in practice, because we were working on the set-up and getting my teammates comfortable.
"I was really surprised to do that time because I hadn't gone quicker than a 1m36s in practice."
Turner ended up six tenths faster than Aston Martin Racing team-mate Stefan Mucke in third place. Fourth position went to Pescarolo Sport driver Jean-Christophe Boullion, who was on his out lap when the session was interrupted by a red flag. The Frenchman could only match his morning free practice time on his subsequent run.
Giacomo Piccini, brother of former FIA GT Championship frontrunner Andrea, took LMP2 qualifying honors in the Racing Box team’s second Lola-Judd coupe. The 24-year-old Italian edged out Olivier Pla in the ASM Team Ginetta-Zytek to claim the class pole on his first outing in a prototype.
GT1 honours went to the Reiter-run IPB Spartak Lamborghini driven by Peter Kox. The Dutchman was more nearly 1.5sec ahead of the second-placed car in class, the Luc Alphand Aventures Chevrolet Corvette with Yann Clairay at the wheel.
Gianmaria Bruni claimed a debut GT2 pole for the new JMW Ferrari team. The team bounced back from a disappointing Friday during which its 430 GT barely ran courtesy of misfire.
Times to follow