Perera Takes Blancpain GT Pole in Barcelona

Frank Perera put the No. 74 ISR Audi R8 LMS on pole for Sunday’s Blancpain GT Series Qualifying Race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Frenchman, who is co-driving with Marlon Stockinger, held off a charging Mirko Bortolotti in the No. 63 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 by 0.126s, claiming his second pole of the season following the first one at Brands Hatch.

“It’s not easy to have a perfect lap at Barcelona. The tarmac is difficult and the car moves a lot,” Perera said. “We did a really good job today because we didn’t test here and the tires we used in practice were really bad.”

Robin Frijns improved Enzo Ide’s chances to become Sprint Cup champion on Sunday by qualifying the No. 33 Belgian Audi Club WRT Audi third on the grid, where it will share the second row with the No. 86 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jules Szymkowiak and Bernd Schneider.

“Enzo is 17 points ahead, so we will not take any big risks,” said the Dutchman, who replaces Christopher Mies this weekend. “We’ll start third and hopefully we will finish third and keep the Mercedes behind.”

Felix Rosenqvist, who scored pole at the Nurburgring, was the early pacesetter in the No. 88 AKKA ASP Mercedes but eventually fell back to fifth.

Alvaro Parente was sixth quickest in the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren 650S GT3 he shares with Rob Bell. The Brit is currently second in the overall Blancpain GT standings.

Maxi Buhk and Dominik Baumann, the current overall points leaders, only managed P8 in qualifying. The No. 84 HTP Mercedes will start two positions behind their main rivals tomorrow.

The Pro-Am class pole went to the No. 11 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 of Michal Broniszewski and Giacomo Piccini, while the top spot in Silver Cup was taken by Nicolaj Moller Madsen and Alessio Picariello for Phoenix Racing.

Claudio Sdanewitsch and Rino Mastronardi didn’t make it to the final qualifying session but will start from Am class pole in the No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia GT3.

The 60-minute Qualifying Race will start at 9:15 a.m. local time.

RESULTS: Qualifying