***Porsche GT Team, which brought up the rear in GTE-Pro qualifying, also utilized only a single set of tires by design, according to Head of Porsche Motorsport Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser. “With the limited amount of tires, I think it’s difficult for every competitor to judge on the long runs on how it will preform. We just didn’t want to take any risks,” he told Sportscar365.
***Walliser said Andy Priaulx’s pole-winning lap of 1:55.858 in the No. 67 Ford GT was a “quite a statement” and was not in the Porsche’s range.
***Despite new aero restrictions, LMP1 cars have seen a massive gain in lap times, with Kamui Kobayashi’s 1:36.793 lap nearly three seconds faster than the best time set here last year, by Brendon Hartley in the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid. What’s more, Kobayashi’s lap was just 1.245 seconds slower than Nico Rosberg’s race pace-setting lap from last year’s British Grand Prix.
The F1 cars were pretty slow last year, but it's still pretty amazing the closed cockpit cars are getting that close.