Kubota Storms to Le Mans Group C Pole
Kubota Blasts Nissan to Group C Pole
Katsu Kubota stormed to pole with nine minutes to go in qualifying for the Group C race which supports the Le Mans 24-Hours on Saturday morning, over five seconds quicker than Bob Berridge’s Sauber. Berridge, now solely in the Sauber after withdrawing his Jaguar XJR-14, was similarly clear of the quickest Porsche, the 962 shared by Derek Bell MBE and Mark Sumpter.
The session was red-flagged soon after Kobotu set his time with Zak Brown’s Blaupunkt Porsche 962 smouldering on the pit straight, Mike Donovan quickest of the C2 runners with his Spice sixth overall, Aaron Scott looking to challenge him on race pace in his older vintage Spice.
The attention in the pit-lane was on five times winner Bell, who commented: “I was out first but didn’t do many laps as car in front was dropping oil, but the car is fabulous to drive, it is nice to drive with freedom again. The circuit is just as I remembered it, I did some demo laps a couple of years ago but don’t know the first section very well!. Now I am really looking forward to the race – I love these cars on this track.”
The race is scheduled for 10.05 local time on Saturday morning – Historic Racing News.com branded commentary live from Radio Le Mans!
Group C Qualifying, Le Mans:
1 Kutsu Kobota / Joaquin Folch Nissan R90CK 3m45.675s
2 Bob Berridge / Gareth Evans Sauber C11 3m51.286
3 Derek Bell / Mark Sumpter Porsche 962 3m52.731s
4 Shaun Lynn Sauber C11 3m56.223s
5 Tom Kimber-Smith / Paul Whight Aston Martin AMR-1 3m57.800s
6 Mike Donovan Spice SE88 3m57.827s
7 Christophe D’Ansembourg Porsche 962 3m59.273s
8 Frank Lyons / Michael Lyons Gebhardt C91 4m00.495s
9 Aaron Scott Spice SE86 4m02.9466s
10 Richard Eyre Jaguar XJR-16 4m11.257s
11 Russell Kempnich Porsche 956C 4m11.974s
12 Manuel Monteiro Porsche 962 4m14.423s
13 Henrik Lindberg Porsche 962 4m15.208s
14 Tommy Dreelan Porsche 962 4m16.018s
15 Paul Stubber Lola T711 4m17.661s
16 Max Werner / Moritz Werner Mazda 767B 4m34.452s
17 Peter Garrod Jaguar XJR-12 D 4m36.861s
18 Peter Harburg Porsche 962 4m4m44.258s
19 Eric Rickenbacher Cheetah G606 4m59.725s
