The classification of the 1,000 km of Paul Ricard has concluded with the pole of the Ferrari #51 of Iron Lynx, GT3 shared by Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon and Antonio Fuoco. With a combined time of 1m53.693s, the drivers in the #51 beat those in the #54 Dinamic Motorsport Porsche by just over three tenths. Good performance by the Spanish riders, since the Mercedes #88 in which Dani Juncadella competes will start fourth, two positions ahead of Albert Costa’s #63 Lamborghini. For its part, Miguel Molina’s Ferrari #51 was ninth thanks in large part to the performance of Catalan.
Q1 passed without major incidents than the puncture of the Audi #10, a minor issue that did not even cause a yellow flag. This allowed the great roosters of the contest to show their credentials. Dries Vanthoor was the strongest with a 1:53.864 that allowed the #32 Audi to start the classification in the lead. The Porsche #54 and the Ferrari #71 also showed a candidacy for pole, not so much a Nicklas Nielsen with the Ferrari #51 after having a small scare to avoid contact with another GT3. Frédéric Vervisch placed the #46 Audi, Valentino Rossi’s unit, in fourth place.
It was the turn of Q2, ultimately the most decisive session. The 1:53.423 marked by Davide Rigon was worth its weight in goldsince he was the only driver of the 54 who coincided on the track who was capable of lapping in 1:53. After endorsing almost eight tenths to all his rivals, the #51 Ferrari’s pole position seemed almost a sure thing. Dani Juncadella completed a good job at the controls of the #88 Mercedes, although he was overshadowed by Rigon’s stellar performance. The session had the spin of the Iron Dames Ferrari #83 as the only noteworthy incident.
Q3 left no room for surprise and Antonio Fuoco completed a lap in 1:53.4. He wasn’t the fastest, but this time was more than enough to confirm the pole of the Ferrari #51 of Iron Lynx. In this case several pilots rolled in 1:53, among them a Matteo Cairoli that allowed the Porsche #54 to make it to the second final position. A tenth behind was the Audi #32. Jules Gounon closed the work of Raffaele Marciello and Dani Juncadella to take the #88 Mercedes to fourth position.
The trio formed by Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer, Benjamin Goethe and Thomas Neubauer not only closed the ‘top 5’, but also got the Silver Cup pole with the Audi #30 with enormous authority. In fact, the Team WRT drivers managed to overtake the #63 Lamborghini of Spaniard Albert Costa, present in Q3. For its part, the seventh position was for the #46 Audi, a very positive result for Valentino Rossi’s GT3 due to the Italian’s own performance in the last session. For its part, Miguel Molina’s #51 Ferrari will start ninth.
Classification 1,000 km of Paul Ricard of the GTWC Europe 2022
Photos: GT World Challenge Europe