Nick Tandy

No1 Porsche LMP Team Porsche 919 Hybrid

“In the end it was Neel’s lap in the middle of the session. I made a mistake in sector two and we thought ok let’s try again and go for this pole because when Neel came out with this 1m39.0 we all went wow and this was really an amazing lap. I saw the delta in the car and there were some corner I just thought ‘what has he done here!’

“It is always difficult when we go in to qualifying and we add in the extra downforce to the car, taking out fuel and putting on tyres. It is a great result for our last weekend to start from the pole.”

Neel Jani

No1 Porsche LMP Team Porsche 919 Hybrid

“Everything worked out on that lap and it was really enjoyable to drive, the grip was unbelievable and I thought with these last four years with this car and this being the last qualifying ever I had to try and nail it and it worked. The first pole position was in Spa in 2014 with Marc (Lieb) and now with Nick so at least in qualifying we closed the circle so let us hope we can close the more important circle tomorrow.”

Davide Rigon

No71 AF Corse Ferrari F488 GTE

“I am very satisfied, it was a very good lap from me and a really, really good lap from Sam.  To be honest it was a little bit unexpected because we were struggling a little bit in FP1 and this morning it was a little bit difficult to drive our car, but in the end everything was perfect.  I risked a lot to be honest and everything went well.  So I am very happy for this pole position, one point is important for me but anyway I just want to win the race.  A big thank you to Sam and to the whole team, who managed well the backstage.

Sam Bird

No71 AF Corse Ferrari F488 GTE

“This was an important pole for Davide and an important pole for the team to take a point away from the Porsche and the Ford so they don’t get closer to James and Alessandro.  It also means Davide closes up in the championship as well. 

“Honestly it was a bit of a surprise as we struggled a lot in free practice.  We thought it would be a fight between the two Astons.  But when Davide put in that lap, I knew that I needed to pull something very special. I hadn’t had new tyres yet this weekend or anything close to low fuel, so I really didn’t know where the grip was but the car was fantastic.  Congratulations to the team and let’s try and win tomorrow.”

André Negrão

No36 Signatech Alpine MATMUT Alpine A470-Gibson

“I made some mistakes on Turn 4 and 7 but apart from that it was a good lap and it was good enough for pole. I was afraid about Bruno (Senna) and (Nelson) Piquet because yesterday they were really fast but for some reason today we got the pole and one point for us. We are still fighting for the championship but it is a little bit much for us.  We hope to win the race tomorrow and we’ll fight until the chequered flag.”

Gustavo Menezes

No36 Signatech Alpine MATMUT Alpine A470-Gibson

“I hadn’t been on good rubber this weekend and going into qualifying it was a bit of a shock how good the car was. André did an incredible job, it was an amazing lap and I can learn from that. I had a few mistakes on my lap as well but it was a great average and we are very happy with that. It’s a slim chance at the championship but we don’t give until the end.”

Pedro Lamy

No98 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage

“We’ll try to do our best tomorrow and try to win if it is possible, but we have to look for the championship and see if it is possible to take that championship which we have been missing for three years.  It is nice to have the pole and Paul did a great job as usual and his lap made it possible to get another point.”

Paul Dalla Lana

No98 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage

“It is certainly nice to arrive with the lead in the championship after facing deficits for the last few years as Pedro mentioned. But the class is getting closer and closer.  I think the top three inside of a tenth which has got to be as tight as it has been all year.  It’s going to a big fight tomorrow, so we are looking forward to it and it is nice to put the car on the front row.”