Q1 was red-flagged with just under eight minutes to go, when the #24 JSB Competition Aston Martin of Florian Briche lost fluids coming out of Curva Grande. Hendrik Still (#30 W&S Motorsport Porsche) was surprised by the lack of grip in the braking zone for the next corner, the Variante della Roggia, and crashed into the TecPro barriers, soon followed by the #75 Centri Porsche Ticino 718 Cayman of Ivan Jacoma. Both drivers were transferred to the medical centre for a check-up, the cars were a write-off. A hard hit, especially for W&S Motorsport, which had already lost a car during Thursday’s Official Test session.
When Q1 resumed, it was feared that the track would have lost some speed because of the cement powder used to absorb the fluids on track. But with a good slipstream, anything is possible in Monza. With a little help from his friends former FIA GT1 driver Benjamin Lariche managed to set the fastest time, at the wheel of the #3 Team Speedcar Audi. With a lap of 1’55.291, Lariche was just over two tenths quicker than the #7 Mirage Racing by MB Performance Aston Martin of Louis Meric, taking the B.R.M. Pole Position for Race 1.
With the top 3 positions claimed by cars of the Silver category, the fastest of the Pro-Am cars – Gregory Guilvert in the #42 Saintéloc Junior Team Audi – will start in fourth overall. The B.R.M. Pole Position in Am went to the #55 Autosport GP LS Performance Alpine of Laurent Hurgon, 27th overall.
In Qualifying 2 the grid for Sunday’s Race 2 was set, and the Drivers 2 on each car had a close-fought battle as well. When push came to shove it was first Kenny Herremans in the #17 V8 Racing Camaro claiming the top spot, but his lap time was soon improved by Gabriele Piana in the #2 Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport BMW. Robert Consani managed to squeeze in between in the two, putting the #3 Team Speedcar Audi on the front row for the second race as well.
The B.R.M Pole in Pro-Am went to the #78 Elite Motorsport McLaren of Michael Crees, which just avoided the barriers in the final seconds of the session, and in Am the #10 AVR-Avvatar Porsche of Alban Varrutti was quickest.
Race 1 starts on Saturday afternoon at 16.50 CEST, and is streamed live on both the Facebook page of the GT4 European Series and the GTWorld YouTube channel.