+ Result, Qualifying, Spa-Francorchamps
Championship leaders Josh Rattican and Tom Lebbon proved unbeatable in the Belgian sunshine as the pair scored both pole positions at Spa-Francorchamps for the Elite Motorsport McLaren team.
Rattican set the pace in the first qualifying segment in the yellow Artura, before Lebbon shattered the championship qualifying lap record in the second. Both drivers edged ahead of the Team Speedcar Audi shared by Benjamin Lariche and Robert Consani, which wound up second both times by less than a tenth of a second.
RAFA Racing Team drivers Jon Lancaster and Rafael Martinez scored Pro-Am pole for race one, with the W&S Motorsport Porsche in the hands of Max Kronberg and Finn Zulauf taking top spot for race two.
A great effort from NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG driver Andy Cantu put he and new team-mate Guillermo Aso on Am pole for race one, before Laurent Hurgon again shone aboard the Schumacher CLRT Alpine to put himself and Pascal Huteau back in front for race two.
Qualifying began under beautiful sunny conditions at Spa, and the fight at the front soon ignited as multiple cars exchanged the fastest time as the field warmed to the circuit.
It only took Rattican three laps to hit the front, his initial best putting the #78 McLaren almost half-a-second clear of the pack. Rattican then improved further on his next lap, and it was a good thing he did as the charging Audi of Lariche soon closed to within 0.089s of the McLaren. Hugo Sasse made it three brands in the top three by placing the #99 PROsport Racing Aston Martin he shares with Raphael Rennhofer third, ahead of a great effort from Pro driver Jon Lancaster, who put his and Rafael Martinez’s RAFA Racing McLaren inside the top four and on Pro-Am pole for the first time this season.
Lluc Ibañez kept the Misano-winning NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG in fifth, ahead of Finn Zulauf in the W&S Motorsport Porsche, which starts second in Pro-Am. The JSB Cayman of Julien Briche and Jean-Laurent Navarro starts seventh, with Ruben del Sarte and Josh Miller’s Mirage Racing Aston Martin eighth.
Cantu got the better of Huteau by 0.3s in the battle for Am class pole, while the GPA Racing Aston Martin driven by Kevin Jimenez secured third on the grid.
Lebbon rammed home the potential of the Elite McLaren in the second half, shattering the outright GT4 lap record at Spa to snatch a second pole for the #78 car. He wasted no time in doing so either, with his third flying lap setting the bar too high for anybody else to match. Lebbon’s 2:26.947s effort was over two seconds faster than the old lap record.
Once again the Team Speedcar Audi led the chase, with Consani getting to within 0.066s of the McLaren, as Miller moved the #5 Mirage Racing Aston Martin to third. Tom Emson brought the sister Elite McLaren into fourth, ahead of Jamie Day in the #82 Racing Spirit of Léman Vantage.
The Matmut Évolution Toyota of Enzo Joulié and Etienne Cheli struggled to 18th in the first half, but Cheli got more out of it in Q2, placing the car sixth overall, which could be key to the drivers keeping the pressure on the Elite McLaren this weekend.
After starring in Pre-Qualifying, Hurgon again impressed by putting the Am class-leading Schumacher CLRT Alpine 11th overall on his way to class pole. That put he and Hurgon well clear of Florent Grizaud in the GPA Aston, while Aso backed up Cantu’s fine work in Q1 by grabbing third.
Kronberg left it late to get his best lap in, but he did enough to put the W&S Porsche top in Pro-Am and 15th overall, a few places ahead of Stephané Lemeret in the #10 CMR Ginetta. Navarro and Briche will start third in their JSB Porsche.
The first race of the Spa-Francorchamps weekend will take place this evening at 21:10 when the grid will race into the night.