Qualifying quotes
Sebastian Golz (Project Manager 911 GT3 R): “This qualifying session was really exciting. The traffic in particular turned the hunt for top times into a huge challenge. At first it didn’t look at all good when the fastest lap of the number 911 car in Q1 was annulled due to a track limit infringement. However, since no warnings were given beforehand, the race director retracted the decision prior to the final qualifying session. The lap times of other participants were also later reinstated. With his lap time in the final qualifying session, Frédéric Makowiecki underlined that we’re competitive at Suzuka.”
Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 911 GT3 R #911): “Normally the tyres offer the best grip in the second flying lap. However, since I didn’t encounter much traffic in the first lap, I decided to go flat-out to the end. But then I came across traffic in the chicane. Had I got a free run in the second lap, perhaps it would have been enough to achieve third or fourth.”
Kévin Estre (Porsche 911 GT3 R #991): “My lap was okay. We managed to tweak the car slightly for the final segment, but it didn’t get much faster. Our long-run performance, however, is good – and that’s the most important thing. If we’re lucky with safety car phases during the race, we’ll be able to work our way up the field over the distance.”
Earl Bamber (Porsche 911 GT3 R #7): “The qualifying went well. We managed to up the pace of our car bit by bit. Obviously, the result doesn’t quite correspond to what we’d expected. If we’d been just a tenth of a second faster we would have landed on P10. In view of this we’re heading into the race feeling optimistic.”
