27 July 2018
Francorchamps, 27 July 2018 – It was a good qualifying session for the six Ferraris competing in the 24 Hours of Spa, 4th round of the Blancpain Endurance Cup, and one of the world’s most prestigious races also part of the on the Intercontinental GT Challenge calendar. In the overall class, the 488 GT3 of SMP Racing will start from second row, in fourth position. There were also good results in the Pro-Am Cup and Am Cup classes, with cars on the second, third and fourth rows. The 488 GT3s and the drivers took to the track in black to honour the memory of former President and CEO, Sergio Marchionne.
SMP Racing. In the overall class, the only Ferrari entered in the Superpole was the SMP Racing no. 72 driven by official Ferrari driver Davide Rigon. The Italian clocked the 4th best time of 2:19.433, just a few hundredths off second place. Riberas-Mies-Dries Vanthoor, in the Audi, set the fastest time. Rigon will share the car with the other official driver Miguel Molina and Russian Mikhail Aleshin. The trio have so far driven some exceptional races at Monza and Le Castellet, but technical problems have always cheated them of victory.
Pro-Am Cup. The grid in the Pro-Am Cup class was decided in Thursday's qualifying session when two of the three Ferrari 488 GT3s were placed on the first two rows. The no. 51 of AF Corse was brilliant, with Duncan Cameron lapping in 2:23.584, alternating with Lorenzo Bontempelli (2:21.702), Aaron Scott (2:20.830) and Matt Griffin, who clocked a superb 2:20.334 for a combined time of 2:21.012 and fourth place. AF Corse no. 53, driven by Niek Hommerson (2:24.458), Louis Machiels (2:22.611), Marco Cioci (2:21.003) and Andrea Bertolini (2:20.921) took third row and sixth place. The third Ferrari in class will start on row six: the 488 GT3 of Rinaldi Racing qualified in 2:24.496 with Daniel Keilwitz, Alexander Mattschull, Rinat Salikhov and David Perel at the wheel. Class pole went to the Mercedes of Ram Racing with Burke-Yoluk-Hankey-Rosenqvist.
Am Cup. In the Am Cup class, the two 488 GT3s will start from row four and five. The no. 488 of Rinaldi Racing with Murad Sultanov, Rick Yoon, Nick Boulle and Pierre Ehret did best, eighth in 2:24.840. Team T2 Motorsport’s car no. 75 car finished tenth with Greg Teo, David Tjiptobiantoro, Christian Colombo and Matteo Cressoni in 2:26.147. The McLaren of Garage 59 of West-Harris-Goodwin-Watson took pole position in the class.