Timo Bernhard qualified for the 1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, with a time of 1m 58.519s (212.7 km/h). Bernhard was just 0.635 seconds behind pole setter Sébastien Bourdais in the Peugeot 908, despite the fact the Audis have been prepared with the high-speed and low down force specifications of the Le Mans circuit.
“I am satisfied with my performance. For the team it is a small success to start from the front row tomorrow. We see the race here in preparation for Le Mans. Such a feeling of success helps the entire team to find even more confidence. It was a good debut. So far the weekend for the No. 9 crew was very good,” said Timo Bernhard in an Audi press release.
The final preparation race for the R15 TDI prototypes from Spa-Francorchamps also saw the race comeback of Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen, after his foot injury. The Dane managed to qualify sixth for Sunday’s 1000-km race.
“Running in Le Mans specification on this track, it was a good qualifying for Audi in general. Personally I was not too lucky. At the beginning of my first flying lap I was not seen by another car. We touched and I’ve lost a part on the car. Nevertheless the car still felt okay and I had a very good lap before I had to slow down because of a yellow flag. Thus the car has more potential – and a good base set-up for Le Mans,” said Kristensen.
With the big Le Mans prototypes in their final preparation stage, everyone is looking forward to the Le Mans race from 12-13 June.
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