In Friday afternoon’s 30-minute Superpole session at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the top 20 qualifiers tackled individual time trials on the 7.004-kilometre Grand Prix circuit in the Belgian Ardennes. One GT3 car was released each minute, with the better of two flying laps counting towards the grid position. Among the eleven Porsche 911 GT3 R vehicles entered in this year’s event, four had earned a place in Superpole after Thursday’s multi-part qualifying. They fought for pole on a dry track, with 26°C asphalt and air temperatures around 18°C.
Good qualifying for Herberth Motorsport
Joel Sturm was the first of the Porsche quartet to set a time. The German turned a blistering lap in the No. 92 Herberth Motorsport Porsche – clocking 2.16.127 minutes on his second run, and shaving almost half a second off his first attempt. That effort secured ninth overall and first place in the Gold Cup class for Sturm, his fellow German Tim Heinemann and their Gentleman co-driver Rolf Ineichen from Switzerland.
At the wheel of Schumacher CLRT Porsche, Laurin Heinrich from Germany had been on course for a strong result but missed the braking point into the final chicane on his opening lap. He recovered on his second attempt to secure 11th on the grid. The reigning IMSA GTD Pro champion shares the car with DTM race winner Ayhancan Güven from Turkey and current FIA Endurance Trophy LMGT3 title-holder Klaus Bachler from Austria.
Patric Niederhauser posted a time of 2.16.668 minutes on his first lap in Rutronik Racing’s No. 96 Porsche but failed to improve on his second run. The Swiss driver and his teammates Alessio Picariello (Belgium) and Sven Müller (Germany) will start Saturday’s race from P15.
Red flag interrupted the superpole-session
Factory driver Mathieu Jaminet experienced bad luck: After recording 2.17.068 minutes, a red flag interrupted his second attempt. Although he was later granted another flying lap, he fell just short of his earlier benchmark on worn tyres. The Frenchman will tackle the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps from 17th on the grid with Australian Matt Campbell – with whom he currently leads the North American IMSA series in the Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 hybrid prototype – and Danish driver Bastian Buus.
‟We didn’t quite meet our expectations – though Joel Sturm’s performance stands out,” said Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. ‟Securing ninth overall and first among the Gold Cup participants is a great achievement. Unfortunately, Laurin Heinrich made a minor driving error on his fast lap, which meant a top time was no longer within reach. Fifteenth place for Patric Niederhauser and the Rutronik Racing team is a solid result. Mathieu Jaminet was unlucky to encounter a red flag on his flying lap. On his second attempt, he couldn’t get the tyres back into the optimal temperature window. Never mind: our full focus is now on the race. At Spa-Francorchamps, nothing is decided on this demanding circuit until the checkered flag after 24 hours.”
With 75 cars entered, the 24-hour classic at Spa is the world’s largest GT3 event and represents round three of both the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (GTWC) and the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC). Championship points are awarded for the GTWC after six, twelve, and 24 hours. The full race will be streamed live and in multiple languages at www.intercontinentalgtchallenge.com.
Driver comments after the Superpole
Joel Sturm (Herberth Motorsport Porsche #92): ‟I think that was the best lap I could’ve done – there wasn’t much more in it. We hit our minimum goal with Gold Cup pole, and being the fastest Porsche is a great bonus. That said, in terms of performance, we’re still lacking a little compared to the competition. Let’s see how things unfold for us in the race.”
Laurin Heinrich (Schumacher CLRT Porsche #22): ‟We were hoping for a place in the top 10, but starting the world’s biggest GT3 race from eleventh isn’t a bad position either. Unfortunately, not everything went smoothly for us in Superpole. Still, we’ve got a strong car and one more warm-up session to make the final tweaks.”
Patric Niederhauser (Rutronik Racing Porsche #96): ‟I always think it’s really cool to take part in Superpole here at Spa. Our 911 GT3 R felt great, and I managed two solid laps. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough to be further up the grid – but the race is long, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Mathieu Jaminet (Dinamic GT Porsche #18): ‟The session didn’t go well for us due to the red flag – it came right in the middle of my second flying lap. After that, I had to go out again on the same set of tyres, which is obviously not ideal, but that’s how the rules work. In the end, it won’t matter too much – it’s a race twice around the clock. Still, we’ve got a bit of work to do tomorrow.”
Result Superpole session
1. (1. Pro) Loake/Kirchhöfer/Goethe (GBR/CHE/DEU), McLaren #59, 2.15.113 minutes
2. (2. Pro) Stolz/Gounon/Schiller (DEU/AND/DEU), Mercedes-AMG #17, 2.15.527 minutes
3. (3. Pro) Vanthoor/Van der Linde/Wittmann (BEL/ZAF/DEU), BMW #31, 2.15.713 minutes
9. (1. GC) Ineichen/Heinemann/Sturm (CHE/DEU/DEU), Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92, 2.16.127 minutes
11. (10. Pro) Bachler/Güven/Heinrich (AUT/TUR/DEU), Schumacher CLRT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #22, 2.16.214 minutes
15. (13. Pro) Müller/ Niederhauser/Picariello (DEU/CHE/BEL), Rutronik Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #96, 2.16.668 minutes
17. (15. Pro) Buus/Campbell/Jaminet (DNK/AUS/FRA), Dinamic GT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #18, 2.17.068 minutes
The other grid positions (results of Thursday’s qualifying)
22. (3. GC) Adelson/Skeer/Sargent (USA/USA/AUS), Wright Motorsports, Porsche 911 GT3 R #120, 2.18.428 minutes
23. (19. Pro) Lietz/Malykhin/Preining (AUT/GBR/AUT), Pure Rxcing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #911, 2.18.443 minutes
45. (8. BC) Rindone/Kolb/Feller/Pera (FRA/DEU/CHE/ITA), Lionspeed GP, Porsche 911 GT3 R #80, 2.21.433 minutes
46. (6. SC) Rappange/Al Rifai/Pieris/Baud (NLD/ARE/LKA/FRA), Dinamic GT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #54, 2.21.439 minutes
57. (13. BC) Schuring/Au/Hartog/Rump (NLD/HKG/NLD/EST), Rutronik Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #97, 2.22.148 minutes
58. (14. BC) Bohn/A. Renauer/R. Renauer/Jefferies (DEU/DEU/DEU/ZWE), Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, 2.22.176 minutes
61. (1. PAM) Abramczyk/Detry/Duffieux/Yuan (FRA/BEL/BEL/CHN), AV Racing by Car Collection Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #29, 2.22.588 minutes
Pro = Pro class; PAM = Pro-Am-Cup; GC = Gold-Cup; SC = Silver-Cup; BC = Bronze-Cup
Full results https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/watch-live
