A well-timed lap from Shane van Gisbergen shortly after the start of night qualifying has put the #58 Garage 59 McLaren (above) on provisional pole position for the weekend’s Spa 24 Hours, with the final order of the top 20 to be decided by Friday evening’s ‘Super Pole’ single-lap shootout.
The Kiwi set his time shortly before the session was temporarily halted when the #89 AKKA-ASP Mercedes (above), with Michael Lyons at the wheel, hit the barrier nose-first at Stavelot. Lyons said afterwards that he’d been brake-checked by a Lamborghini, forcing him to swerve at speed and lose the car. Although damage to the nose looked significant, the team was able effect repairs quickly enough for it to rejoin the session later on.
There was drama towards the end of the two-hour session for the #38 Antonelli Motorsport Lamborghini (above), which caught fire at Stavelot with Michela Cerruti at the wheel. The Italian pulled in and got out of the car, which was attended to by marshals, but it’s not yet clear how bad the damage is.
Below are the top 20 cars that have made it into Friday’s Super Pole shootout, plus which of the two sessions they set their fastest time in on Thursday and what driver was at the wheel:
1 #58 Garage 59 McLaren (van Gisbergen, night)
2 #86 HTP Mercedes (Goetz, day)
3 #56 Black Falcon Mercedes (Juncadella, day)*
4 #28 WRT Audi (Vanthoor, day)
5 #88 AKKA Mercedes (Rosenqvist, day)
6 #26 Sainteloc Audi (Haase, night)
7 #84 HTP Mercedes (Buhk, night)
8 #85 HTP Mercedes (Schmid, night)
9 #8 M-Sport Bentley (Soulet, night)
10 #00 Black Falcon Mercedes (Engel, day)
11 #7 M-Sport Bentley (Kane, night)
12 #50 AF Corse Ferrari (Pier Guidi, night)
13 #74 ISR Audi (Perera, day)*
14 #2 WRT Audi (Frijns, day)
15 #24 Parker Bentley (MacLeod, day)*
16 #99 ROWE BMW (Sims, day)
17 #16 GRT Lamborghini (Bortolotti, night)
18 #6 Phoenix Audi (Mies, day)
19 #98 ROWE BMW (Catsburg, day)
20 #666 Barwell Lamborghini (Keen, day)*
* = Pro-Am entry
