Photo: Racingpixels
David Fumanelli guided CCC Kessel Racing to pole position in the Michelin 12H Mugello for the second year in a row.
The No. 8 Ferrari 296 GT3, which Fumanelli shares with L.M.D.V, Alessandro Cutrera and Marco Frezza, set a combined time of 1:47.092 during Friday’s three-stage qualifying session for the first round of Creventic’s European calendar.
That time was 0.569 seconds faster than the second-placed No. 27 Heart of Racing by SPS Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Ian James, Gray Newell and Hannah Grisham.
Fumanelli guided Kessel to its second consecutive 12H Mugello pole in similar fashion to last year, setting the fastest outright time of any driver in the third and final segment.
The Italian’s 1:46.062 made him one of just six drivers in GT3 qualifying to break the 1:46 barrier and was notably faster than the 1:47.912 he set a year ago, when all cars in the series still ran on Hankook tires.
RedAnt Racing’s No. 93 Mercedes-AMG will start third for the Belgian squad’s debut GT3 appearance, joined on the second row by the No. 81 Era Motorsport Ferrari of Dwight Merriman, Jake Hill, Kyle Tilley and Ryan Dalziel.
The overall top five was completed by the No. 73 Proton Huber Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R of Joerg Dreisow, Manuel Lauck, Klaus Bachler and Laura van den Hengel, ahead of the No. 69 Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.
ARC Bratislava slotted into seventh with its No. 44 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, with JUTA Racing, Manamauri Energy by Ebimotors and Pellin Racing rounding out the overall top ten.
CCS Racing captured GT4 pole position with its No. 410 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS driven by Nikolas Gebhardt and Jim Gebhardt, 0.165 seconds clear of the No. 426 Lotus PB Racing Lotus Emira GT4.
The opening, seven-hour segment of the Michelin 12H Mugello kicks off on Saturday at 11 a.m. CET (6 a.m. EST) with live coverage on the Creventic Motorsports TV YouTube channel.
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