Reigning TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa winner Nicklas Nielsen was fastest in Thursday’s first qualifying session. In pre-qualifying, the #51 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GT3 pilot set a 2m18.292sec to claim a temporary first place.
SPA 24 HOURS | ENTRY LIST | LIVESTREAM | PRACTICE REPORT | PRE-QUALIFYING REPORT | QUALIFYING REPORT | THURSDAY GALLERY | SUPER POLE REPORT | K-PAX DISQUALIFIED; AKKODIS ASP ON POLE | INTERVIEW KLAUS BACHLER | FOUR HOUR REPORT | SATURDAY GALLERY | RACE REPORT | CLASS WINNERS | INTERVIEW RAFFAELE MARCIELLO
Nielsen’s flyer came halfway into the one-hour session. His time pushed 2019 winner Kévin Estre from the top of the charts, the #221 GPX Martini Racing Porsche 991.2 GT3R’s 2m18.324sec turning out fast enough to stay second until the chequered flag.
Just a tenth of a second away from first place, Maximilian Götz placed the #2 AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 on third place, his 2m18.406sec being just 0.114sec shy of the Ferrari.
Frederik Schandorff claimed fourth place overall and first in the Gold Cup with the #7 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3. The Dane completed the 7.004 kilometre Circuit Spa-Francorchamps in 2m18.427sec, ahead of Dennis Olsen in the #47 KCMG Porsche 991.2 GT3R.
The session was thrice interrupted to recover stranded cars. First, the #16 Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche 991.2 GT3R of Matt Payne spun coming out of Les Combes, triggering the first red flag. Piti Bhirombhakdi also fell victim to Les Combes, spinning the #39 Singha Racing TP12 Porsche 991.2 GT3R and getting stuck in the gravel. Finally, with 10 minutes remaining, Fanatec GT World Challenge Australian driver Stephen Grove found the tyre barrier at Rivage.
The official qualifying session starts tonight at 20:40 CEST and runs until 22:10 CEST. Teams can qualify for Friday’s Pole Shoot-out while also setting the grid for the remainder of the cars. Night practice follows at 22:20 CEST until 23:50 CEST.
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