2020 ELMS Champion Phil Hanson secured the overall pole position for the 4 Hours of Aragon. The British driver posted a best time of 1m46.822 in the no22 United Autosports USA Oreca-Gibson with two minutes of the session remaining only to see the no47 COOL Racing Oreca of José María López go quicker by 0.021s. However, the Argentine drivers lap was deleted due to a track limits violation, dropping Lopez back to fourth.
The LMP2 session was red flagged before any of the eight cars had set a time after the no25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca of James Allen stopped on track.This reduced the session time to 11 minutes for the rest of the field.
Neel Jani in the championship leading no30 Duqueine Team Oreca was second fastest at the chequered flag after holding provisional pole position on two occasions earlier in the session. The Swiss driver’s time of 1m46.850 was 0.028s behind Hanson and 0.051s ahead of Olli Caldwell in the no43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca, which will line up on Row 2 with the no47 COOL Racing Oreca.
IDEC Sport were 5th quickest ahead of the second United Autosports USA Oreca and the no65 Panis Racing entry.
LMP2 Pro/Am: Three from Three for Racing Team Turkey
Salih Yoluc secured his and Racing Team Turkey’s third pole from three attempts, securing the top spot on the LMP2 Pro/Am grid for this evening’s 4 Hours of Aragon. The Turk posted a best time of 1m49.361 but faced several challenges throughout the 15-minute session.
Yoluc will be joined on the front row by the no99 Proton Competition Oreca after former LMGTE Champion Giorgio Roda posted a 1m49.682, 0.321s behind the no34 Oreca and 0.177s ahead of the third fastest car, the no24 Nielsen Racing Oreca of Rodrigo Sales.
Francois Perrodo was fourth fastest in the no83 AF Corse in 1m49.898, nearly four tenths ahead of Alexander Mattschull in the no19 Team Virage Oreca-Gibson.
LMP3: Debut Class Pole for Inter Europol Competition
Wyatt Brichacek secured the first ever LMP3 pole position for multi race winning team Inter Europol Competition, the American posting a session best time of 1m52.269, fending off a determined challenge by several cars for the top spot for the 4 Hours of Aragon.
The no13 Ligier-Nissan will head the 12-car grid by 0.321s, with the no31 Racing Spirit of Léman Ligier of Antoine Doquin posting the second fastest time of 1m52.590.
Row two will be headed by the no8 Team Virage Ligier, with Eurointernational in 4thand 5th. The no11 Ligier finishing ahead of the sister car.
Championship leader Marcos Siebert in the no17 COOL Racing briefly went into provisional pole position before a track limits violation deleted his best time, with the Argentine eventually finishing 6th.
LMGTE: Berry Claims Second Pole for JMW Motorsport
Martin Berry secured his second pole position in the no66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, posting his fastest lap as he took the chequered flag in 1m57.022. Former ELMS Champion Johnny Laursen will line up on the front row of the class grid after holding the provisional pole position for several minutes, the Dane’s best time of 1m57.263 just two tenths slower than the pole time.
Row two is an all-Porsche affair with Ryan Hardwick recovering from an earlier trip into the gravel that brought out a red flag to finish third with a 1m57.375 in the no16 Porsche, 0.199s faster than his Proton Competition teammate Michael Fassbender in the no95 911 RSR-19.
The 4 Hours of Aragon is Round 3 of the 2023 European Le Mans Series and is due to start at 18h00 this evening, with the race finishing after sunset.
CLICK HERE for the result from qualifying for the 4 Hours of Aragon.
