The 45th edition of the 24 Hours of Zolder has its pole man. Limburger Xavier Maassen beat Glenn Van Parijs and Dylan Pereira in the Superpole after a very strong lap. The man from Lanaken, in his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (type 992) from Q1 Trackracing, had 0.422 seconds bonus over another driver from the region, Glenn Van Parijs in the similar car of AUGUST by NGT. Luxembourg veteran Dylan Pereira, the reigning champion in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup, finished third with PK Carsport’s Porsche, just over half a second behind Maassen.

After the free practice and qualifying sessions, the starting order was decided during the Superpole with already a decent public turnout. In this session, drivers were given the chance for one timed lap and thus could not afford to make a mistake. After the rain showers, the track was still damp at Superpole, but the ideal line was as good as dry.

Xavier Maassen worked a perfect balancing act and placed his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (type 992) of Q1 Trackracing, which he shares with Jan Lauryssen, Dirk Schouten, and John De Wilde, at the top of the standings.

“I am extremely happy,” 43-year-old Maassen gloated. “I knew it could be done, but still had to beat very strong drivers. This is one for in my souvenir cabinet.”

Behind Van Parijs and Pereira, Sam Dejonghe was fourth with a Porsche of RedAnt Racing. Nathan Vanspringel drove a fine Superpole, placing the MARC Cars Mustang of VDS Racing Adventures as the first non-Porsche in fifth position, a second off the polesitter.

Cédric Wauters, who got pole position last year, finished tenth overall and first in GTB with his BMW M4 GT4 of Hamofa Motorsport. Marnik Battryn’s Rush Drivers Collective Mercedes finished second in GTB class, less than half a second off the pole man. The TCL Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 with Lars Zaenen at the wheel finished third in GTB.

GTE Racing (Cupra) on pole in TA, JFT Engineering by PG Motorsport (Renault) fastest in TB

Maxim Van Den Hove placed his Cupra TCR of GTE Racing at the top of the standings in TA, the fastest touring car class. The championship leader in this class counted just under eight tenths ahead of Alon Day with PK Carsport’s BMW M2 CS. Esteban Muth finished third with the Bilia Emond by G&A BMW.

Tom van Eename achieved the fastest lap in TB. The driver of JFT Engineering by PG Motorsport was half a second faster with his Renault Clio than VDW Motorsport’s BMW with Edwin Beyers at the wheel. Vincent Convents finished third with his Convents Racing Team BMW. The Superpole was briefly halted at the start after the Abarth was in the gravel of the Sterrenwachtbocht and thus also failed to set a lap time on the tables.

Saturday, the 45th edition of the 24 Hours of Zolder starts at 16h00 after a nice preliminary programme with two races of the Belcar Skylimit Sprint Cup and as many of the Historic Monoposto.