Bortolotti Inherits Race 2 Pole as Frijns Penalized

Photo: Olivier Beroud Images

Robin Frijns has lost his best lap time from Qualifying 2, moving Mirko Bortolotti into pole position for Sunday afternoon’s Race 2 at Zolder.

Bortolotti originally qualified second in his No. 63 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 with a best time of 1:28.574, losing out on track to Belgian Audi Club Team WRT driver Frijns.

The Dutchman was under investigation after the session for causing a red-flag period during qualifying when he hit the cone at the second chicane, which led to a brief stoppage while the debris was collected.

His penalty was issued in accordance with Article 52 of the Blancpain GT Series 2018 Sporting Regulations.

As a result, the he has lost his pole-setting time of 1:28.363 and instead will start from 12th position in Race 2. 

Fellow WRT driver Will Stevens moves up to second position alongside Bortolotti while Kelvin van der Linde and Carlo van Dam will start from the second row for Attempto Racing and TP 12 Kessel Racing, respectively.

Dries Vanthoor will start this afternoon’s Race 1 from pole with Bortolotti’s teammate Christian Engelhart lining up second. 

The race will get underway at 3:25 p.m. and will be streamed live on the series’ website and GT World YouTube channel.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.