The Lamborghini #6 of the K-PAX Racing team has lost the pole of the 74th edition of the 24 Hours of Spa after receiving a 10-place penalty for a technical infringement found in post-superpole scrutineering. In addition, the team has faced a heavy financial fine of $25,000. As a result of this penalty, the Mercedes #88 in which Raffaele Marciello, Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon compete will start in first position and it will be the third consecutive edition of the test in which an ASP Mercedes comes out to the front of the grid.
The technical commissioners of SRO have detected that the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo with number 6 of the K-PAX Racing team did not meet the parameters established after the initial test of the ‘Balance of Performance’ that the promoter of the GTWC Europe performs at the beginning of the year in Paul Ricard. Specifically, Andrea Caldarelli’s Lamborghini #6 had engine registers -motor torque- and in the air filter -air pressure- different from those set during these ‘BoP’ tests, which would have given him some competitive edge during superpole.
In this situation, the #6 Lamborghini has lost all superpole timesincluding the 2:16.221 that earned him to finish in first position, in addition to receiving a 10-position penalty that will lead him to start the race in eleventh place. A much more committed starting position for GT3 in which, in addition to Andrea Caldarelli, Jordan Pepper and Marco Mapelli are also present. In the case of Pepper, the driver designated by the team to start the race, he will have to face the first stages of the race with a different approach.
Once the penalty of 10 positions was applied to the Lamborghini of K-PAX Racing, the grid is led by the #88 Mercedes in which Dani Juncadella competes, since his teammate Raffaele Marciello was second in superpole with a time of 2:16.375. Dinamic Motorsport’s #54 Porsche will now be on the front row of the grid thanks to Klaus Bachler’s efforts yesterday. For its part, the second starting line is formed by the GetSpeed Mercedes #2 and the Lamborghini #63 in which the also Spanish Albert Costa competes.
Photos: GT World Challenge Europe