06 Nov 2010 Prototype Qualification

On a greasy track it is always very tricky, Stephane Sarrazin made pole position for the 1 000 kilometres of Zhuhai, the final race of the ILMC in 2010. Peugeot made it a front row lock-out with the other 908 HDi FAP driven by Simon Pagenaud in second.

For their last race with the current 908, the Peugeot drivers set the bar high early in the session. Three minutes from the chequered flag, Tom Kristensen exited the track while attempting to catch the two Peugeot's times. He didn't hit anything, but the eightfold winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was forced to halt his attempt, and enter the pits to remove the gravel he had picked up.

Stéphane Sarrazin: "It's great for us to monopolize the front row. The car was very good but quite difficult to drive on the slippery track. We feared the arrival of rain, so we drove quickly from the start of the session."

1 - 2 - Team Peugeot Total - Peugeot 908 HDi FAP - Stéphane Sarrazin (FRA)/Franck Montagny (FRA), 1'21''868
2 - 1 - Team Peugeot Total - Peugeot 908 HDi FAP - Sébastien Bourdais (FRA)/Simon Pagenaud (FRA), 1'22''953
3 - 7 - Audi Sport Team Joest - Audi R15 TDI - Tom Kristensen (DAN)/Allan McNish (ECO), 1'23''152
4 - 8 - Audi Sport Team Joest - Audi R15 TDI - Rinaldo Capello (ITA)/Dumas (FRA), 1'24''589
5 - 11 - Drayson Racing - Lola Judd Coupé - Paul Drayson (GBR)/Jonny Cocker (GBR), 1'28''916
6 - 23 - Tokai University - Courage Oreca YGK - Shigekazu Wakisaka (JAP)/Shogo Mitsuyama (JAP), 1'30''869
7 - 35 - OAK Racing - Pescarolo Judd - Jacques Nicolet (FRA)/Frédéric Da Rocha (FRA)/Patrice Lafargue (FRA), 1'32''936
8 - 47 - Hope PoleVision - Shan Qi Zhang (CHI)/Jeffrey Lee (TAI)/Steve Zacchia (SUI), 1'33''227

The start of the 1 000 km of Zhuhai will be on Sunday at 4:00 (UK time).

Photo : ZHUHAI (PRC), 1 000 KM DE ZHUHAI, 6th NOV 2010. Stéphane Sarrazin puts the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP #2 in pole position.

Julien Hergault