The best Porsche 963 starts from the second row in Brazil. Round five of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) takes place at the storied Formula 1 circuit in Interlagos. In the time hunt, Australian Matt Campbell was able to set the third-fastest lap time with the number 5 works race car. Kévin Estre from France finished fifth at the wheel of his 512 kW (696 hp) hybrid prototype. The two identical customer cars of Hertz Team Jota will start the 6-hour race in São Paulo from seventh and eighth place. In the LMGT3 class, the two Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by Manthey finished second and fifth.

In qualifying, cool temperatures below 15 degrees Celsius awaited the teams and drivers. This made it difficult to get the Michelin tyres into the optimal operating window. In qualifying in the Hypercar class, Matt Campbell and Kévin Estre first drove three warm-up laps before starting their attacks on the best time. The Australian made it into the Hyperpole session as the best-placed finisher, with Estre reaching the final top 10 shootout in tenth.

In the Hyperpole session, there were ten minutes left for an optimal lap on the 4.309-kilometre Grand Prix circuit. Both works drivers continued to improve in their Porsche 963s and finished the hunt for pole position in third and fifth place. "That was a strong performance and corresponds exactly to what we expected," sums up Urs Kuratle, Vice President Factory Motorsport LMDh. "We are directly behind the two Toyotas. Given the fact that we didn't do any test drives here, that's perfectly fine. We're well positioned for the race. The two Porsche 963s of Hertz Team Jota were also very strong in qualifying."

"Third and fifth places for our team make me very proud," says Jonathan Diuguid, Executive Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. "We didn't know the track before. The fact that we were able to show such a strong performance is the result of our preparation. We did a great job in the simulator. On race day, we can expect significantly higher temperatures – in other words, completely different conditions. Our cars are fast and the tyre wear looks good. We'll attack Toyota tomorrow."

The customer squad Hertz Team Jota was also able to demonstrate the potential of the Porsche 963 at Interlagos. Spa race winner Callum Ilott in the No. 12 hybrid prototype and Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula 1 World Champion, in the No. 38 car finished seventh and eighth on the grid. Former Porsche Junior Julien Andlauer from France finished qualifying in twelfth place in the Proton Competition customer car.

In the LMGT3 class, the two Porsche 911 GT3 R of Manthey EMA and Manthey PureRxcing competed in the two-part time hunt. Britain's Alex Malykhin and Le Mans class winner Yasser Shahin from Australia made it into the Hyperpole in second and ninth place. In the final shootout for the best grid positions, Malykhin again achieved second place, his brand colleague Shahin drove to fifth place on the grid.

The 6-hour race of the FIA WEC in Brazil starts on Sunday, July 14 at 11:30 a.m. local time (4:30 p.m. CEST).

The race on TV and stream
The German free-to-air TV channel Sport1 will broadcast the start of the fifth round of the season on Sunday from 4:15 p.m. and the final phase from 8:15 p.m. and will offer extensive summaries in the week after the event. Eurosport2 will also broadcast excerpts of the race.

Driver comments on qualifying
Matt Campbell (Porsche 963 #5): "Third place is great and even a bit more than we expected. The second row of the grid gives us a very good starting position. It wasIt was an extremely close competition that I had a lot of fun with. In the 6-hour race, however, the world looks completely different again, because it gets much warmer. We then have to pay much more attention to our tyre wear, because we want to be at the front."

Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6): "The car was running well, but there was a bit of a lack of pace for the real fight for pole position. However, the gap is small. It's difficult to get everything on point within one lap at this track. Now we are looking towards the race. We have to see where we stand compared to the competition when it comes to the distance of six hours. We're aiming for another podium finish and want to further extend our leading position in the championship."

Callum Ilott (Porsche 963 #12): "In qualifying, i.e. in the first section, it was really good. In the Hyperpole session, I suddenly didn't have as much grip as before – we'll have to take a closer look at that to get it better for the race. I'm a bit disappointed because our car works better than the result shows. For us, there was more in it. Nevertheless, seventh place is a good starting point. Let's see what we can achieve in the race."

Jenson Button (Porsche 963 #38): "Qualifying was good, but eighth place in the Hyperpole was a bit disappointing in the end – the Porsche felt excellent. In view of the short time intervals, a small improvement would have brought us significantly forward. Two factors ultimately prevented a better result. I was driving a little too close behind a Ferrari. That helped me at first, but then I slipped slightly off the track and lost time. Secondly, my tyres were already degrading at the end, so I couldn't get the maximum out of the car. But we have already started from worse positions. Let's see what else we can achieve on race day."

Yasser Shahin (Porsche 911 GT3 R #91): "I'm very happy with fifth place. From qualifying to Hyperpole, I found another half a second. We have to make the best of our opportunities. After our great results, such as the recent class win at Le Mans, we have to load a lot of success ballast into the car – that's the price of success, which we're of course happy to accept. Here in Brazil, however, it sets us back a bit, especially since things are going uphill a lot. The distances are narrow. I'm very happy on that basis."

Alex Malykhin (Porsche 911 GT3 R #92): "The Porsche is working well and my lap was fine – but I'm not happy with second place. The gap to pole position is simply far too big. We have a long race ahead of us on Sunday and we start from the front row. Everything is still possible."

Results qualifying
Hypercar class:
1. Conway/Kobayashi/de Vries (UK/J/NL), Toyota #7, 1:23.140 minutes
2. Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa (CH/NZ/J), Toyota #8, 1:23.262 minutes
3. Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki (AUS/DK/F), Porsche 963 #5, 1:23.331 minutes
5. Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor (F/D/B), Porsche 963 #6, 1:23.408 minutes
7th Ilott/Stevens/Nato (UK/UK/F), Porsche 963 #12, 1:23.639 minutes
8th Hanson/Button/Rasmussen (UK/UK/DK), Porsche 963 #38, 1:23.701s
12th Andlauer/Jani (F/CH), Porsche 963 #99, 1:23.955s

LMGT3 class:
1st Bovy/Gatting/Frey (B/DK/CH), Lamborghini #85, 1:34.413s
2nd Bachler/Malykhin/Sturm (A/UK/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #92, 1:34.804 minutes
3. Caygill/Pino/Sato (UK/CHL/J), McLaren #95, 1:34.860 minutes
5. Lietz/Shahin/Schuring (A/AUS/NL), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, 1:35.471 minutes

All results under fiawec.alkamelsystems.com.