WRT Audi Tops Qualifying as Super Pole Places Decided

Audi Sport Team WRT’s No. 31 car driven by Dries Vanthoor, Christopher Mies and Kelvin van der Linde set the pace in qualifying for the Total 24 Hours of Spa as the top 20 finishers advanced to Friday’s Super Pole shootout.

The three Audi factory drivers combined for an average time of 2:35.097 across three separate 15-minute sessions held in wet weather conditions.

Vanthoor opened WRT’s account with the second-fastest lap in Qualifying 2, behind Matt Campbell who put the No. 12 GPX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R on provisional pole.

Momentum then swung in the direction of the No. 31 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo as Mies went almost a second clear of the field in Q3 before van der Linde led the way in Q4.

Defending winner GPX ended up second with Campbell, Patrick Pilet and Mathieu Jaminet posting an average time of 2:35.282, with 0.185 seconds separating the crews.

In third was Audi Sport Team Attempto’s Mattia Drudi, Patric Niederhauser and Frederic Vervisch on a 2:36.249 average.

Completing the top five were the factory-supported Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos from AKKA-ASP and Haupt Racing Team.

A total of seven Porsches qualified for Super Pole, making the German manufacturer the best-represented brand in tomorrow evening’s session to decide the top end of the grid.

Five Audis also advanced, along with three Mercedes-AMGs, three Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020s and a pair of Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evos.

Notably, Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli manufacturers’ championship leader BMW will not be represented in Super Pole.

Its best contestant in qualifying was the No. 34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 in 24th.

All but one of the Super Pole qualifiers came from the Pro class, with AKKA-ASP’s Silver Cup Mercedes-AMG finding a way into the final session.

Benjamin Hites, Lucas Legeret and Alex Fontana upset many of the Pro-class teams with the 17th-best overall time.

A second Silver Cup car – the HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG – narrowly missed out on the final stage of qualifying as the 21st competitor on the averages.

Pole position in Pro-Am went to Herberth Motorsport Porsche drivers Ralf Bohn, Daniel Allemann, Alfred Renauer and Robert Renauer.

Robert Renauer set the third-fastest time of all the Q3 drivers to help his car achieve the class pole and 35th on the grid overall.

The Am Cup pole was earned by the drivers of Raton Racing’s No. 129 Lamborghini.

Two cars did not set times in all of the available sessions.

Sainteloc Racing’s No. 26 Audi, which is entered in Am Cup, only saw three of its crew members register a time with Pierre-Yves Pacque not setting a qualifying attempt.

Additionally, K-PAX Racing’s Pro-class No. 9 Bentley Continental GT3 did not take part in any of the sessions.

RESULTS: Qualifying (Combined)