Akkodis ASP Leads Mercedes-AMG Front Row at Paul Ricard

Akkodis ASP claimed pole position for the Paul Ricard 1000km as Raffaele Marciello, Timur Boguslavskiy and Jules Gounon set the fastest three-driver average in qualifying.

The defending Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup title-winning squad led a front-row lockout for Mercedes-AMG as Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Fabian Schiller put GetSpeed’s Al Manar Racing entry in second.

Marciello and Gounon led their respective 15-minute sessions, while Boguslavskiy ended up 11th during his turn at the helm of the No. 88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

Their three-driver average of 1:53.745 emerged as the best in the 57-car Endurance Cup field, as the GetSpeed trio came through 0.123 seconds behind.

Engel finished third in the opening session, around four-tenths behind Marciello, while Stolz improved to second in session two and gained half a second on Boguslavskiy.

Stolz was put under investigation for speeding in the pit lane but the German driver came away with his lap time intact and a €50 fine.

After two sessions, the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 led on average courtesy of Alessio Rovera and Robert Shwartzman’s efforts, however Gounon’s fastest overall lap in Q3 and a strong second-place effort from Schiller moved the Mercedes-AMGs ahead.

Rovera, Shwartzman and Nicklas Nielsen ended up third on the grid as the new Ferrari improved on its season-opening qualifying performance at Monza where the best AF Corse car finished 18th.

Davide Rigon set the pace in Q2 for the No. 71 Ferrari, which ultimately qualified fifth behind Attempto Racing’s Tresor Orange 1 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

Comtoyou Racing was sixth with its No. 11 Audi, followed by the other Pro-class Mercedes-AMG from Akkodis ASP.

The top ten was completed by Audi squad Sainteloc Junior Team, the best of the BMW M4 GT3s from Team WRT and the Gold Cup pole-sitting Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG driven by Russell Ward, Indy Dontje and Philip Ellis.

It was a tough session for the BMWs, as Monza pole-sitter and race winner ROWE Racing only managed 11th and 16th.

The No. 46 WRT entry, meanwhile, qualified 20th after Valentino Rossi’s opening session outing was interrupted by a right-front puncture, caused by contact from the No. 9 Boutsen VDS Audi as it exited its pit box.

Rossi only managed to finish 43rd in Q1, although his co-drivers Maxime Martin and Augusto Farfus recovered some of the lost ground.

Porsche and Lamborghini also ranked outside the top ten through Rutronik Racing and Iron Lynx in 13th and 14th respectively.

Lamborghini did, however, take pole in Silver Cup courtesy of Grasser Racing Team’s No. 85 crew, while the Garage 59 McLaren squad claimed top honors in Bronze Cup.

The four-car Pro-Am category was led by Car Collection Motorsport’s Porsche.

Round two of the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup season starts at 6 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET).

RESULTS: Qualifying 1 / Qualifying 2 / Qualifying 3 / Combined