Porsche’s record in endurance racing gave fans hope the German marque would prove competitive in its new LM P1 assault, but today at Spa-Francorchamps they were more than competitive – they scored the pole for the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

In the WEC two drivers from each car have to do at least two timed laps each. The average times from the four best lap times determine the grid positions. Neel Jani and Marc Lieb took the qualifying duties in car no. 14 and put the new machine on pole ahead of the Davidson/Lapierre/Buemi winning Toyota from Silverstone the leading Audi of Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer.

“It is just great to be on pole. The conditions were tricky, especially on my first lap on slicks, Jani said.

“Then it got better and my second lap was quicker. But at the same time it became dark and I was just hoping that there were no wet patches left. I thought I could improve further but then I received the call to pit and handover to Marc again.

“Initially it came as a surprise but it was a great strategic call from the team. Today in free practice we have got a lot of experience in the wet. Spa is famous for wet races and as long as it isn’t monsoon style that is fine for me. The temporarily four wheel drive of our hybrid car is exciting and I want to keep working on my driving style to exploit the system’s full potential.”

Three brands also filled the top three spots in the GTE Pro class with Ferrari on top with Toni Vilander and Gimmi Bruni ahead of the Aston Martin of Turner/Mucke/Senna and the Porsche of Holzer and Makowiecki.

The second round of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship kicks off at 2:30pm (local time) on Saturday.