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Frijns Puts WRT on Pole; Title-Contending Lamborghini Second

WRT Audi on Blancpain GT pole; title contending Lamborghini 2nd…

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Robin Frijns has put his No. 17 Team WRT Audi R8 LMS on pole for the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup finale at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday morning while championship contender Mirko Bortolotti will start from second.

This comes after the Dutchman combined with Stuart Leonard to win the Blancpain GT Sprint Cup title two weeks ago at the Nürburgring.

The yellow-nosed Audi will be driven by the Sprint Cup winners as well as Jake Dennis.

The championship advantage went the way of Grasser Racing Team in qualifying as Bortolotti secured a front-row start for his No. 63 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 he shares with Christian Engelhart and Andrea Caldarelli.

Bentley Team M-Sport, the other title challenger, had a disappointing qualifying run with its No. 8 Bentley Continental GT3 and as such will start from 28th position.

The three Mercedes-AMG GT3s of Daniel Juncadella, Franck Perera and Dominik Baumann will follow the Audi and Lamborghini on the grid, completing the top five.

Jules Gounon took Pro-Am Cup pole in his No. 87 AKKA ASP Mercedes while Kessel Racing’s David Perel clinched the Am Cup pole from 35th overall.

The session saw drying conditions with lap times improving considerably throughout the hour. Several cars fell victim to the damp track, most notably the No. 7 Bentley of Guy Smith and No. 26 Sainteloc Racing Audi of Christopher Haase.

Smith hit the barrier on the pit straight during the opening session while the Total 24 Hours of Spa winner spun into the gravel trap at turn 2 midway through Q3, both prompting brief red flag periods.

The three-hour Blancpain GT finale will get underway at 3 p.m. local time.

RESULTS: Qualifying 3

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

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