Spa 24 Hours: McLaren leads the way to Superpole as Garage 59 lights up Spa in qualifying night

McLaren will head into Friday’s Superpole shootout as the team to beat after a commanding display in Thursday night’s Qualifying session for the 2025 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. The #59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO of Joseph Loake, Marvin Kirchhöfer and Benjamin Goethe set the best average across three sessions to secure first place and the final Superpole slot.

Garage 59 delivers as rivals keep the pressure on

Despite dark clouds and earlier showers, the session remained dry throughout, allowing for a proper four-part showdown under the lights. Each driver was given a 15-minute run, with the combined average time counting toward the order. For Garage 59, Kirchhöfer’s 2m16.221s in Q3 and Goethe’s 2m16.315s in Q4 backed up a strong Q2 from Loake, giving them an unbeatable average of 2m16.454s.

BMW and Porsche pushed hard, with the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO and #22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) both showing well. Mercedes-AMG put two cars in the top five, while Lamborghini, Ferrari and Aston Martin also secured spots in the top 10. The fastest single lap of the night came from Jack Hawksworth in the Bronze Cup #188 Garage 59 McLaren with a 2m16.214s, putting the Bronze McLaren on an 49th place on the grid.

Red flags and absentees

Three red flags disrupted Q1, most notably when Tim Sandtler crashed at Raidillon in the #611 Nordique Racing Mercedes-AMG. The car did not return. The #81 Winward Racing Mercedes, heavily damaged in Pre-Qualifying, was still being repaired when the session began.

Class honours settled early

Class pole positions were decided, with Silver pole going to 21st place overall #42 Century Motorsport BMW, Bronze to the #66 Tresor Attempto Audi, and Pro-Am pole to 61st-placed #29 AV Racing by Car Collection Porsche. Meanwhile, the Gold Cup pole will be settled in Superpole between the #33 Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin and the #92 Herberth Motorsport Porsche as both teams made it into the top 20.

Qualifying – Top 20

Loake / Kirchhöfer / Goethe (#59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3), 2m16.454s
Vanthoor / Van der Linde / Wittmann (#31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3), +0.505s
Güven / Heinrich / Bachler (#22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche 911 GT3 R, +0.562s
Stolz / Gounon / Schiller (#17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3), +0.665s
Engel / Cairoli / Auer (#48 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER, Mercedes-AMG GT3), +0.715s
Mitchell / Perera / Mapelli (#163 VSR Lamborghini Huracán GT3, +0.753s
Rovera / Abril / Pier Guidi (#51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3), +0.869s
Donno / Fuoco / Leclerc (#50 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari 296 GT3), +0.899s
Drudi / Thiim / Sørensen (#7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3), +0.899s
Eng / Harper / Hesse (#998 Rowe Racing, BMW M4 GT3), +0.943s
Campbell / Buus / Jaminet (#18 Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R), +0.983s
Krognes / Pittard / Chaves (#34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3), +1.027s
Bortolotti / Engstler / Pepper (#63 GRT – Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3), +1.075s
Vermeulen / Lulham / King (#33 Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3) – Gold, +1.109s
De Wilde / Weerts / Van der Linde (#32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3), +1.213s
Farfus / Krohn / Marciello (#98 Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3), +1.239s
Müller / Niederhauser / Picariello (#96 Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R), +1.341s
Grenier / Götz / Martin (#9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG GT3), +1.566s
Ineichen / Heinemann / Sturm (#92 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R) – Gold, +1.586s
Rast / Magnussen / Rossi (#46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3), +1.826s

Full results

Next up: Superpole

Superpole begins Friday at 16:10 CEST with one driver per car completing two flying laps in reverse order of qualifying position. The battle for pole is wide open, but after Thursday night, McLaren’s #59 leads the charge.