Porsche and Toyota were tied at the top of the timesheets after qualifying for Sunday’s Shanghai round of the World Endurance Championship. Aston Martin Racing drivers Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner claimed their first pole of the year in GTE Pro. Turner leapfrogged over the factory Porsche 911 RSR shared by Patrick Pilet and Frederic Makowiecki after setting his best time on his third flying lap aboard his Aston Martin Vantage GTE. GTE Am honours went to the AMR Vantage driven by Pedro Lamy and Christoffer Nygaard.
| Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car |
| 1 | LMP1 | R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb | Porsche Team | Porsche |
| 2 | LMP1 | A.Davidson, S.Buemi | Toyota Racing | Toyota |
| 3 | LMP1 | T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley | Porsche Team | Porsche |
| 4 | LMP1 | A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, K.Nakajima | Toyota Racing | Toyota |
| 5 | LMP1 | L.di Grassi, L.Duval, T.Kristensen | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi |
| 6 | LMP1 | M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi |
| 7 | LMP1 | N.Prost, N.Heidfeld, M.Beche | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Toyota |
| 8 | LMP1 | D.Kraihamer, A.Belicchi, F.Leimer | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/Toyota |
| 9 | LMP2 | R.Rusinov, O.Pla, J.Canal | G-Drive Racing | Ligier/Nissan |
| 10 | LMP2 | M.Howson, R.Bradley, A.Imperatori | KCMG | Oreca/Nissan |
| 11 | LMP2 | K.Ladygin, V.Shaitar, A.Ladygin | SMP Racing | Oreca/Nissan |
| 12 | LMP2 | S.Zlobin, N.Minassian, M.Mediani | SMP Racing | Oreca/Nissan |
| 13 | LMP1 | P.Kaffer, L.Auer | Lotus/AER | |
| 14 | LMP2 | E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, D.Brabham | Extreme Speed Motorsports | HPD |
| 15 | LMP2 | S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, R.Gonzalez | Extreme Speed Motorsports | HPD |
| 16 | LMP2 | D.Cheng, H-Pin Tung, M.Patterson | Oak Racing | Morgan/Judd |
| 17 | GTE Pro | D.Turner, S.Mucke | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin |
| 18 | GTE Pro | F.Makowiecki, P.Pilet | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche |
| 19 | GTE Pro | J.Bergmeister, R.Lietz | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche |
| 20 | GTE Pro | G.Bruni, T.Vilander | AF Corse | Ferrari |
| 21 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, J.Calado | AF Corse | Ferrari |
| 22 | GTE Pro | A.MacDowall, D.O’Young, F.Rees | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin |
| 23 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, C.Nygaard | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin |
| 24 | GTE Am | F.Perrodo, E.Collard, M.Vaxiviere | Prospeed Competition | Porsche |
| 25 | GTE Am | K.Poulsen, D.Hansson, R.Stanaway | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin |
| 26 | GTE Am | G.Roda, P.Ruberti, M.Cressoni | 8 Star Motorsports | Ferrari |
| 27 | GTE Am | C.Ried, W.Henzler, K.Al Qubaisi | Proton Competition | Porsche |
