Team Kuwait on Home Pole for 12H Kuwait

Team Kuwait by MRS GT-Racing secured pole position on home soil for the Hankook 12H Kuwait, leading a Porsche 1-2 ahead of Dutch outfit GP-Elite.

The No. 47 Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Mohammad Al-Kazemi, Zaid Ashkanani and Ahmad Al Ghanem posted a combined average time of 1:53.919.

That was enough to beat GP-Elite’s No. 32 Porsche, piloted by the all-Dutch trio of Lucas Groeneveld, Daan van Kuijk and Jesse van Kuijk, to pole by 0.477 seconds.

Ashkanani, a former race winner in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, led the way for the Kuwaiti squad by posting the fastest lap overall with a 1:52.111 in the third session.

The top three was rounded out by the No. 85 CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo driven by Charles Putman, Charles Espenlaub, Joe Foster and Shane Lewis.

The No. 44 ARC Bratislava Lamborghini Huracan GT3 completed the four-car GT3 pack, but the trio of Miro and Matej Konopka and Zdeno Mikulasko fell behind GTX pole sitters Razoon-More Than Racing in the overall classification.

The Austrian squad qualified fourth overall with the No. 714 KTM X-Bow GTX, driven by Dominik Olbert, Daniel Drexel and Kuwaiti driver Haytham Qarajouli.

Pole position in the GT4 category went to the No. 429 Century Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of David Holloway, Adam Hatfield, Bradley Ellis and Piers Johnson.

The Aston Martin’s average time of 2:04.569 bested the No. 450 RHC Jorgensen-Strom by Century BMW M4 GT4 of Daren Jorgensen, Brett Strom and Nathan Freke by 0.141 seconds.

Third in class went to the No. 491 Lionspeed Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS MR.

Out of the 21-car field, three cars did not take part in qualifying, including Leipert Motorsport’s Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo and both Qatari-entered QMMF by HRT Porsche 992 GT3 Cup, the second of which notably features former FIA World Endurance Championship competitor Anders Fjordbach.

The Hankook 12H Kuwait starts Friday at 12 p.m. local time (3 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Qualifying