Van Gisbergen Quickest After Qualifying 2 at Spa

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

An early flyer in Qualifying 2 by Shane van Gisbergen has put Garage 59 on top heading into Friday’s Super Pole for the Total 24 Hours of Spa, which will decide the top end of the grid.

The McLaren GT factory driver reeled off a 2:18.474 in the No. 58 McLaren 650S GT3 early in the two-hour night session to bump the No. 86 AMG – Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Maxi Gotz from the top spot.

“The car wasn’t too good to start with but we chipped away,” van Gisbergen said. “We were right on the edge and we jumped right to the stop. The car got better and better and that got us into the shootout.”

Gotz’s 2:18.532 lap led the way in opening qualifying, in what had been a dominant effort from Mercedes-AMG up until the night session.

The Pro-Am class No. 56 Black Falcon Mercedes of Daniel Juncadella posted the third quickest time overall, also from Q1, while Laurens Vanthor made an improvement to put the No. 28 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8 LMS fourth on the time sheets.

The No. 88 AMG – Team AKKA ASP Mercedes was fifth quickest, followed by the No. 26 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS in sixth, which also made an improvement in the hands of Christopher Haase.

Both M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3s showed improved pace in the night, ending Thursday 9th and 11th quickest and sandwiching the No. 00 AMG – Team Black Falcon Mercedes, which completed the top-10.

The two-hour session saw two Full Course Yellows, with an accident for the No. 89 AKKA ASP Mercedes leading to a red flag for barrier repairs that stopped the clock for 10 minutes.

A second FCY came out for a fire from the No. 38 Antonelli Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3.

The 20 quickest cars overall will advance to Friday evening’s Super Pole, which will set the grid for the Belgian endurance classic. The session gets underway at 6 p.m. local time.

RESULTS: Qualifying (Combined)

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John