The Ferrari 488 GTE #52 of Daniel Serra, Miguel Molina and Sam Bird will line up on the front row at the 89th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The six best-classified cars in each category in yesterday’s Qualifying Practice competed in the Hyperpole on Thursday to decide the starting grid.
LMGTE Pro. In the 30-minute battle for pole, Daniel Serra and James Calado strove for the best possible placing in the Pro class. The Brazilian turned in a time of 3:47.063 on the fourth of eight laps, 161 thousandths down on poleman Dries Vanthoor in a Porsche. However, James Calado set his fastest time on the last lap, stopping the clock at 3:47.247 and earning fourth place on the grid.
LMGTE Am. Second and third rows went to the two Ferraris of Cetilar Racing and Inception Racing taking part in the Hyperpole. Antonio Fuoco took fourth with 3:49.387, while Ben Barnicoat qualified the British team’s 488 GTE in 3:49.477.
Daniel Serra: “I think we are in a good position for the race after taking second place. We would have preferred to start from pole position, and I pushed hard to do that. It was a decent lap, but the time wasn't good enough to set off ahead of everyone. However, we have 24 hours of intense racing ahead of us, and we will give it our all”.
James Calado: “The second and fourth positions achieved in the Hyperpole are a good result for the team, and we are satisfied. I think we need to find a couple of tenths in the race. However, with more work on the setup, we should be able to do it. It's a good start, even though we would have preferred to be on pole”.