Interim report 1
In adverse weather conditions, the 911 GT3 R racing cars mounted with a rear-engine made the most of the traction advantage and snatched one position after the other. Driving for GPX Racing, Kévin Estre made up the most ground in his No. 20 Porsche GT3 R. Taking up the race from position eleven, the Frenchman has now moved within striking distance of the leaders after 90 minutes of racing.
The No. 117 customer vehicle fielded by KÜS Team75 Bernhard has also closed in on the frontrunners after an hour and a half. Right behind him is Rowe Racing’s best Porsche 911 GT3 R (#998), thus rounding off the Porsche trio in the top ten at the world’s most important GT3 event.
Comments after the start
Kévin Estre (Porsche 911 GT3 R #20): “I started from eleventh on the grid in rain and on a wet track and managed to make up a lot of positions. It was fun overtaking strong rivals under these conditions. Our strategy is good, the team is working well together and that’s important at a tough race like Spa.”
Frédéric Makowiecki (Porsche 911 GT3 R #998): “The start was pretty tricky in these conditions and it was the right decision to start behind the safety car. Luckily, the track then dried, but we have to expect more rain over the course of the race.”
The Super Pole
The best-placed Porsche 911 GT3 R takes up the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps from the first grid row. In the gripping and hotly-contested Super Pole, in which only the top twenty qualifiers were eligible, just one driver per car was permitted to take part. In the hunt for the best time, Laurens Vanthoor turned an impeccable lap for the KÜS Team75 Bernhard squad.
At the wheel of the No. 117 Porsche 911 GT3 R, the Belgian lapped the tradition-steeped 7.004-kilometre racetrack in a time of 2:18.605 minutes on his second flying lap. For a long period, he topped the Super Pole time sheets, before the final contender trumped his time by a mere 17-thousandth of a second. Thus, the local hero will take up the 71st running of the Ardennes marathon on Saturday with his teammates Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Earl Bamber (New Zealand) from the second grid spot.
Posting a time of 2:18.822 minutes, Nick Tandy planted his Porsche fielded by Rowe Racing on P4. The British racing driver shares the No. 998 Porsche 911 GT3 R with the two Frenchmen Patrick Pilet and Frédéric Makowiecki.
Team colleague Mathieu Jaminet (France) concluded the Super Pole in tenth with the No. 98 nine-eleven. Lining up behind him on eleventh is Kévin Estre (France) from GPX Racing (No. 20) with the Norwegian Dennis Olsen on twelfth in Rowe Racing’s third Porsche GT3 R (No. 99). In the No. 54 Porsche 911 GTR 3 campaigned by Dinamic Motorsport, Klaus Bachler (Austria) starts from 16th and rounds off the strong Porsche performance in the Super Pole of the Ardennes classic.
Super Pole result
1. Engel/Buurman/Stolz (D/NL/D), Mercedes-AMG GT3, 2:18.588 minutes
2. Bernhard/Vanthoor/Bamber (D/B/NZ), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 0.017 seconds
3. Molina/Aleshin/Rigon (E/R/I), Ferrari 488 GT3, + 0.218 seconds
4. Pilet/Makowiecki/Tandy (F/F/GB), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 0.234 seconds
10. Müller/Dumas/Jaminet (D/F/F), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 0.439 seconds
11. Estre/Christensen/Lietz (F/DK/A), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 0.479 seconds
12. Olsen/Campbell/Werner (N/AUS/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 0.671 seconds
16. Bachler/Rizzoli/Ashkanani (A/I/KWT), Porsche 911 GT3 R, + 1.293 seconds
Super Pole quotes
Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R: “That was a gripping qualifying. The times of all the cars were very close. Laurens drove a fantastic lap and was only a few thousandths of a second behind the fastest. The Super Pole has underlined that we’re spot on. Everything came together when it mattered and we can now be in the running for victory. Now we need to prepare the vehicles for the race. The weather will be unpredictable and we’re expecting changing conditions. To get the best performance, we have to respond with the right tyres at the right air pressure at the right time.”
Timo Bernhard, team owner KÜS Team75 Bernhard and driver (Porsche 911 GT3 R #117): “The first grid row is a dream and the perfect position to start the race. Laurens put in a flawless drive, and it gives us a lot of confidence. It’s still new for me to cheer from the outside, but as a driver and team owner I now get to experience things from both sides. We’ll now switch over racing trim and then we’re ready for the 24 Hours of Spa.”
Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 911 GT3 R #117): “That was fantastic – we’re on the first grid row. Obviously, for me personally, it’s bitter to have led the Super Pole for a long time only to lose it by just 17-thousandths of a second. Still, it’s a good starting position for the race and that’s what counts.”
Nick Tandy (Porsche 911 GT3 R #998): “That was fun. It’s always great to take part in a qualifying session in which only the best and fastest cars go head-to-head. This is a fantastic result for Porsche, with two GT3 R vehicles in the top five. That was a tremendous team effort from my Rowe Racing squad. We’ve put all three cars in the top twelve.”
More quotes in the press release (downloads).
The qualifying
Porsche’s customer teams have delivered a strong performance at the first qualifying session of the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps: All six vehicles in the pro-category have qualified for Friday’s Super Pole, in which the fastest 20 cars fight for the top grid spots for the 24-hour marathon in the Ardennes.
Per vehicle, each driver had 15 minutes in the qualifying to attempt a flying lap. At the end of the session, the average was calculated from the best time of each driver in a team. The best Porsche 911 GT3 R was the No. 998 vehicle fielded by Rowe Racing, with Frédéric Makowiecki (France) and his works driver teammates Patrick Pilet (France) and Nick Tandy (Great Britain) posting fifth. Driving for KÜS Team75 Bernhard, Earl Bamber (New Zealand), Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) planted the identical No. 117 racing car on ninth.
Klaus Bachler (Austria), Andrea Rizzoli (Italy) and Zaid Ashkanani (Kuwait) qualified their No. 54 nine-eleven on eleventh for Dinamic Motorsport. Rowe Racing’s two other Porsche 911 GT3 R with the starting numbers 99 and 98 also qualified for the Super Pole on Friday with positions 16 and 18. Achieving 20th, the GT3 R vehicle campaigned by GPX Racing made the solid team performance perfect for Porsche.
A total of 248 drivers tackle the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 72 vehicles. Eleven manufacturers are represented at the Ardennes marathon, which is considered the largest and most important GT3 event in the world.
Qualifying quotes
Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R: “We’ve achieved a very good result with six cars in the top 20 in a very strong field. This means our vehicles make up almost 30 percent of the Super Pole grid. If we want to succeed in this session, everything has to come together perfectly. You have just one lap where the tyres have to work at their peak.”
Klaus Bachler (Porsche 911 GT3 R #54): “We encountered a lot of traffic out there, but the car ran really well and the balance is great. Qualifying on eleventh for the Super Pole is a good result. Anything is possible now and I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Michael Christensen (Porsche 911 GT3 R #20): “It was tricky to turn a decent lap with so many cars on the track. But we’re all in the same boat. You also need a bit of luck and we had that today as the 20th.”
Dennis Olsen (Porsche 911 GT3 R #99): “All of the pro-class Porsches including the three Rowe Racing cars are in the Super Pole, and that’s an outstanding result. In this qualifying, where the best lap of each driver counts, teamwork is the key factor. And that worked perfectly with all Porsche squads.”
More quotes in the press release (downloads).
The schedule
Saturday, 27 July
15:35 – 16:15 hrs: Start ceremony
16:30 hrs: Start Total 24 Hours of Spa
The 24-hour race can be viewed via live stream on the internet website of the Blancpain GT Series as well as on the homepage of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.