Genesis Magma Racing has secured its maiden FIA World Endurance Championship pole position as Mathys Jaubert led the qualifying for Sunday’s 6 Hours of Barcelona.
Jaubert, rated FIA Silver, posted a 1:30.329 on his initial flying lap aboard the No. 17 Genesis GMR-001, which was enough for pole, before improving to a 1:30.166 to finish 0.170 seconds ahead of the No. 8 Toyota TR010 driven by points leader Ryo Hirakawa.
It looked set to be a Genesis one-two as Mathieu Jaminet recovered from the car stalling when leaving the pits at the start of the opening session, finishing up third.
Jaminet also briefly stopped on track during Hyperpole but had already posted a fast time earlier in the session.
Charles Milesi in the No. 35 Signatech Alpine A424 was fourth fastest with a 1:30.722, while Will Stevens in the No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R completed the top five.
Robert Kubica was sixth quickest in the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, just ahead of Victor Martins’ second Alpine.
Antonio Fuoco was eighth in the No. 50 factory Ferrari, but his time was erased for exceeding track limits, which would have placed him as high as fourth.
The top ten was completed by Nyck de Vries in the second Toyota—six tenths slower than teammate Hirakawa—and Jack Aitken in the second Cadillac.
Neither of the Heart of Racing’s Aston Martin Valkyries advanced to Hyperpole, despite the No. 007 machine topping FP2 on Friday.
Alex Riberas in the No. 009 Ferrari missed out by 0.032 seconds, while the No. 007 will start 12th as Harry Tincknell was marginally slower.
Antonio Giovinazzi in the No. 51 Ferrari was another that failed to advance, and although he had a lap time deleted for track-limits infractions, it would not have been sufficient to progress.
The WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s and Peugeot 9X8s were also eliminated, with Sheldon van der Linde in the No. 20 BMW only 14th fastest, more than a second off the pace.
The start of Hypercar qualifying’s opening session was delayed by 15 minutes while repairs were carried out to the track at the final corner.
All attention now shifts to Sunday’s 6 Hours of Barcelona, which is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. CEST (6 a.m. EST).
