Two Porsche 911 GT3 R will fight for pole position at Spa
In qualifying for the Spa 24 Hours, two 911 GT3 R racers fielded by Porsche’s customer teams have made it into the Super Pole. The final hunt for the 20 best grid spots will be held on Friday between 7.50 am and 8.20 am (CEST). After multiple qualifying sessions, GPX Racing’s 500+PS entry emerged as the fastest nine-eleven. Earl Bamber (New Zealand) as well as works drivers Matt Campbell (Australia) and Mathieu Jaminet (France) set an average time of 2:19.259 minutes in their individual 15-minute segments, which put them in eighth place. Bamber turned the fastest lap of all 911 GT3 R in 2:18.878 minutes. The 24-hour classic on the 7.004-kilometre Grand Prix circuit in Belgium’s Ardennes region takes off on Saturday at 4.30 pm.
Like the two practice sessions, the evening qualifying was held on a dry track and ran into the night. The constant lapping of slower traffic among the 58-strong field as well as the good 20-minute interruption after an accident midway through the second session did little to help the twelve 911 GT3 fielded by Porsche customer teams. In addition to GPX Racing, KCMG with drivers Maxime Martin (Belgium), Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and works driver Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) achieved the spot in the top 20 as the 18th fastest vehicle. In the Pro-Am class, in which professionals share driving duties with gentlemen drivers, Herberth Motorsport’s 911 GT3 R achieved the best 911 GT3 R result with the driver quartet Alfred and Robert Renauer (both Germany), Antares Au (Great Britain) and Daniel Allemann (Switzerland). In the Silver Cup for semi-professionals, the Porsche customer squad Allied Racing ranked 15th. In the Am class reserved exclusively for privateers, Haegeli by T2 Racing came out on top against Huber Motorsport.
This year’s Spa 24 Hours is regarded as the largest event for GT3 vehicles and counts towards the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC). Drivers and vehicles can earn points towards the GT World Challenge after six, twelve and 24 hours.
Qualifying quotes
Sebastian Golz (Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R): “The qualifying result is somewhat sobering for Porsche. Two vehicles in the top 20 is not the result we’d expected. We’re not getting to the crux of the matter in terms of performance. We’re now facing a lot of work to find out what’s going on. Our speed over one lap doesn’t reflect our competitiveness for the race, but we also have to manage this discipline.”
Qualifying result
1. Marciello/Juncadella/Gounon (I/E/F), Mercedes-AMG GT3 #88, 2:18.433 minutes
2. Thiim/Gunn/Sorensen (DK/GB/DK), Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 #95, 2:18.867 minutes
3. Drudi/Marschall/Mies (I/D/D), Audi R8 LMS GT3 #66, 2:19.090 minutes
8. E. Bamber/Campbell/Mathieu Jaminet (NZ/AUS/F), Porsche 911 GT3 R #22, + 0.825 seconds
18. Martin/Tandy/L. Vanthoor (B/GB/B), Porsche 911 GT3 R #47, + 1.562 seconds
22. Estre/Lietz/Müller (F/A/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #21, + 1.689 seconds
23. Bachler/Cairoli/Engelhart (A/I/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #54, + 1.709 seconds
25. Christensen/Makowiecki/Olsen (DK/F/N), Porsche 911 GT3 R #3, + 1.911 seconds
33. Dumas/Pedersen/Rizzoli (F/DK/I), Porsche 911 GT3 R #56, + 2.368 seconds
37. Burdon/Imperatori/Liberati (AUS/CH/I), Porsche 911 GT3 R #18, + 2.566 seconds
47. Apotheloz/Buus/Kern/Santamato (CH/DK/D/F), Porsche 911 GT3 R #222, + 3.564 seconds
52. Basseng/Busch/Decurtins/Lauck (D/D/CH/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #166, + 4.220 seconds
53. Jacoma/Leutwiler/Menzel/Schell (CH/CH/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #23, + 4.841 seconds
54. Allemann/Au/A. Renauer/R. Renauer (CH/GB/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #911, + 5.697 seconds
56. W. Bamber/Harker/D’Silva/Rivas (NZ/NZ/MY/L), Porsche 911 GT3 R #61, + 7.279 seconds
Full results on www.total24hours.com/results.