Sainteloc Audi on 24H Portimao Pole

Sainteloc Racing narrowly beat Herberth Motorsport to pole position in qualifying for the Hankook 24H Portimao.

The No. 18 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, shared by Michael Doppelmayr, Pierre Kaffer, Elia Erhart, Swen Herberger and Philippe Chatelet, posted a combined time of 1:44.921 across the three stages of qualifying to lead the six-car GT3 field.

The French squad went just 0.166 seconds faster than the No. 91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R of Scott Noble, Ralf Bohn, Jason Hart and Ian Loggie.

Grove Racing qualified third with its No. 10 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo piloted by Stephen Grove, Brenton Grove, Matthew Payne and Garth Tander, while Herberth’s second Porsche completed the second row.

Hofor Racing picked up fifth with its No. 11 Mercedes-AMG, while the No. 90 E2P Racing Porsche headlined by former Repco Bathurst 12 Hour winner Alvaro Parente and co-driven by Pablo Burguera and Antonio Sainero rounded out the GT3 field.

In the GT4 category, points leaders Buggyra ZM Racing were beaten to pole position by Lithuanian squad GSR Motorsport.

Their No. 405 Ginetta G56 GT4, driven by Ernesta Globyte, Rokas Kvedaras, Mindaugas Liatukas, Egidijus Gelunas, Aras Kvedaras, posted a combined time of 1:54.772.

The No. 416 Mercedes-AMG GT4 picked up second, with the top three in class rounded out by W Autosport’s No. 491 Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo.

The Hankook 24H Portimao kicks off Saturday at 12 p.m. local time (7 a.m. EDT), with live coverage on the 24H Series YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Qualifying