The qualifying session of the 24 hours of Spa has ended with a double victory for the Iron Lynx GT3 and best combined time of the Ferrari #71 of Antonio Fuoco, Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon. The three official drivers of the Italian firm have set a combined time of 2:16.920 to lead the way to superpole, a session that will take place on Friday afternoon and in which the 20 best GT3 in the standings will participate. Miguel Molina, Dani Juncadella and Albert Costa will be present at the superpole with their GT3.
Divided into four sessions, the classification of the 24 Hours of Spa has followed the script in reverse of what was expected. Q1, reserved for cars with four drivers and in which the ‘amateur’ drivers compete, has been quite clean, save for a minor spin by Jonathan Hui in the #107 Bentley. However, the remaining sessions have been much more eventful with two red flags in Q2 due to mechanical problems of the #911 Porsche and in Q3 due to the accident of Taylor Cooke’s Lamborghini #27, car in which Isaac Tutumlu also competes.
In terms of results, The Iron Lynx Ferraris have set the standard with the #71 of Fuoco, Serra and Rigon beating the #51 of Molina, Calado and Nielsen by 178 thousandths. The work of Miguel Molina has been very important in Q2 to consolidate this Iron Lynx double and beat the #6 K-PAX Racing Lamborghini by a tenth and a half. Equality has been predominant note and any small mistake by one of the drivers has been noted in the combined times.
With everything, The Audi #12 and #32, two of the strongest GT3 in Ingolstadt, have managed to close the ‘top 5’ and meet prior expectations. So has the trio of Nicky Catsburg, Augusto Farfus and Nick Yelloly, drivers of the #98 ROWE Racing BMW. It has also been among the best of Dani Juncadella’s Mercedes #88 thanks to the combined time of the Catalan, Raffaele Marciello and Jules Gounon that allowed the Akkodis-ASP riders to finish in ninth position.
The last GT3 with a Spanish presence that will dispute the superpole will be Albert Costa’s #63 Lamborghini after finishing alongside Mirko Bortolotti and Jack Aitken in twelfth position. He will not have the option to fight in tomorrow’s session Álex Riberas with the Aston Martin #23 after finishing in 23rd place. This will be the starting position of the TF Sport GT3. For its part, Isaac Tutumlu’s car will start at the bottom of the gridpenultimate, after the accident of his teammate in Q3.
Classification 24 Hours of Spa of Paul Ricard of the GTWC Europe 2022
Photos: GT World Challenge Europe