The no7 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid will start the 6 Hours of Shanghai from Pole Position after Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi set an average lap time of 1m42.832, 0.440 seconds ahead of the no1 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Nick Tandy and Andre Lotterer.
Championship leaders Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber could only manage fourth fastest after Bamber suffered a spin across the grass on his first fast lap. The Kiwi pairing posted an average 1m43.497 lap, 0.665 seconds behind the lead Toyota on pole and 0.052 behind the third placed no8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson.
The no95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage of Marco Sorensen and Nicky Thiim took the pole in China, the first pole of the season for the no95 car. The average lap time of 1m59.697 was 0.219 seconds faster than the rest of the GTE field with the no92 Porsche 911 RSR of Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen second fastest with a lap of 1m59.916.
Championship leaders Ferrari were third quickest with the no51 F488 of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi with a 2m00.247 lap, with the Ford GT of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell in 4th just 0.052 behind the Ferrari.
The no31 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca 07-Gibson of Bruno Senna and Julien Canal scooped top qualifying honours in LMP2 for the first time in 2017 with an average lap time of 1m49.217, a new qualifying lap record for the LMP2 class in Shanghai. The no26 G-Drive Racing Oreca of Nico Muller and Leo Roussel will line up in second place for tomorrow’s race, just 0.255 seconds behind the lead car.
Championship leaders in the no38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca were fourth quickest with a 1m49.743, just 0.049 seconds behind the third fastest car the no13 Vaillante Rebellion.
The no98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage of Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana will start from the front of the LMGTE Am grid for the sixth time in 2017 after claiming pole in Shanghai. The Portuguese/ Canadian duo posted an average lap of 2m02.357, 0.408s ahead of the no77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Christian Ried and Matteo Cairoli.
The 6 Hours of Shanghai is due to start at 11h00 (local) / 04h00 CET on Sunday 5 November
