Lopez on pole in debut WEC outing

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Jose Maria Lopez will start his maiden World Endurance Championship event from pole position after team-mate Kamui Kobayashi set a new lap record of the Silverstone circuit to beat the sister Toyota car piloted by reigning Formula E champion Sebastien Buemi.

With the LMP1 Toyota Hybrids looking to be the class of the field, all three practice sessions were topped by the #8 of Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima but when it mattered it was the #7 of Lopez, Kobayashi and former Venturi Formula E driver Mike Conway who claimed the coveted pole position.

In LMP2, DS Virgin Racing reserve driver Alex Lynn stormed to pole position as he and Pierre Thiriet piloted their #26 G-Drive Racing machine to the top spot ahead the #36 Signature Alpine of Matt Rao and one-time Formula E tester Nicolas Lapierre. Thomas Laurent and Jaguar Racing reserve driver Ho-Pin Tung rounded out the top three in the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07.

Renault e.dams driver Nico Prost and former Mahindra racer Bruno Senna took fourth place in the LMP2 category in the #31 Vaillante Rebellion, beating the sister #13 car of Nelson Piquet Jr, while WEC debutant and Techeetah Formula E driver Jean-Eric Vergne will line his #24 CEFC Manor TRS Racing up in sixth place.

The LMGTE Pro class was dominated by the #67 Ford GT of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell who easily headed their category with a time of 1:55.858s. DS Virgin Formula E driver Sam Bird and Davide Rigon completed the front row in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE, edging out the reigning LMGTE Pro champion team of Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen but over a second behind the Ford GT in pole.

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Images courtesy of Rajan Jangda

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