WEC - Ferrari 488 GTE monopolises the front row at Spa

Francorchamps, 6 May - The Ferrari 488 GTE monopolised the front row in the GTE-Pro class in qualifying for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, which starts on Saturday at 2.30 pm. The crew of car no. 71 AF Corse, Sam Bird and Davide Rigon, took a second consecutive pole, just over three tenths of a second ahead of teammates Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni and James Calado in car no. 51. The 458 Italia AF Corse of François Perrodo, Rui Aguas and Emmanuel Collard, came second in the GTE-Am class.   GTE-Pro. In the GTE-Pro class James Calado started the session in no. 51 and Davide Rigon in no. 71. On his first pass Davide stopped the clock at 2:17:878, which he cut to 2:17:632 on the second. James completed three laps, constantly improving with, in sequence, 2:18:819, 2:18:247 and 2:18:087. Sam Bird in no. 71 only managed 2:18:137 on his first attempt but cut that to 2:17:813 on his second and finally 2:17:657. Car no. 71 thus recorded a combined time of 2:17:644, a time that not even Bruni in the 488 GTE no. 51 could beat over three laps he recorded 2:18:495, 2:18:119 and finally 2:17:835, making a total lap time of 2:17:971. This however secured second ahead of the Aston Martin of Stanaway-Rees-Adam.   GTE-Am. The only Ferrari in the GTE-Am class, the 458 Italia AF Corse of Emmanuel Collard, François Perrodo and Rui Aguas, had a very positive session. Aguas and Perrodo took to the track with the Portuguese initially stopping the clock at 2:20:641, which he improved to 2:19:784 on his second lap. Meanwhile, Perrodo started with 2:22:547 before knocking a split second off that with 2:21:545 next time round. In the end the Ferrari no. 83 came second to the Aston Martin of Lamy-Lauda-Dalla Lana, but it will be a long race and the fight for first is wide open.