Loic Duval – Audi Sport Team Joest

“I went back out just in case. The car was a bit tricky to drive in qualifying and I did a mistake on my first lap. In the second lap going into the stadium I was a bit careful and I lost a bit of time. It was a decent lap but not the best we could get out of the car.

“In case it was really close it made sense to go out after the red flag.

“You wait at the end of pit lane for a few minutes, you wait then go out and the tyres are a bit colder so it was tricky.

“Lucas managed to do a really good lap and the combined result from both of us was enough to get pole. It is also positive for the group with Oliver (Jarvis) as well. We are growing race after race and since Le Mans last year we have raised our game big time.

“We showed Porsche that we are not going to let car No.2 win the championship easily.

“We have a little bit of degradation on the tyres but here the surface doesn’t kill the tyres like some of the other tracks. With the temperature we had this afternoon it is a little bit more aggressive on the tyres compared to this morning or yesterday.”

Lucas di Grassi – Audi Sport Team Joest

“I had a clear track and was able to extract everything from the car. We owe our grid position to a strong performance by the whole squad.”

Ricardo Gonzalez – RGR Sport

 “With the red flag I was just getting temperature in the tyres and then I lost it again. That was the tough part but the result was amazing. After three months of nerve racking preparation, I am enjoying this very much.” 

Bruno Senna – RGR Sport

“My lap was not quite a second faster unfortunately but it was a good lap. This is the type of qualifying that I really enjoy when you can attack with low fuel and new tyres.

“Really I pushed very hard and I didn’t know what the No.26 car had in the tank. Yesterday they were so close to us and they were really quick.

“It paid off and I didn’t go into the wall anywhere – so happy days!”

Marco Sorensen – Aston Martin Racing

“I’m happy to be up here for the second time with Nicki. We have a little bit of an advantage here but the others had a massive advantage at Le Mans.

“It is good for us and we’re going to make sure we make the most of it. We have to make the best out of the race and take the top step rather than P3.

“It is hard to say where the advantage is. A lot of people are looking at the top speed of course but with Dunlop we’ve really improved a lot and here it’s mainly up to the tyres where we have the advantage.

“It’s good for us and maybe not so good for the others – we don’t really care!”

Nicki Thiim – Aston Martin Racing

“I think the tire degradation is a concern for everybody in the GTE category. The degradation is quite hard for us but we’ll see tomorrow and find out what the weather is going to do.

“Mainly I’m looking forward to the Mexican party tomorrow!”