Three Ferraris in Super Pole at 24 Hours of Spa

The 488 GT3 Evo 2020s of AF Corse, SMP Racing and HubAuto finished in sixth, thirteenth and twentieth place in the four qualifying sessions that decided the twenty crews that will compete in the Super Pole on Friday. The rain made conditions very treacherous, adding another variable on top of the traffic, with more than fifty cars on the track at once.

Q1. Just a few minutes before the start of the qualifying session, the rain fell evenly over the track, obliging the drivers to fit wets and, for the first time since the start of the event, to deal with slippery asphalt. The first of the four fifteen-minute sessions saw the crews in action with four drivers. Jonathan Hui qualified his Ferrari in seventh overall, third in the Pro-Am class with a time of 2:42.751, while Niek Hommerson finished in thirteenth and Pierre Ehret sixteenth.

Q2. All the cars took to the track in the second session. This meant that the traffic started to play a significant role in the gaining or losing of precious tenths of a second. Besides this, though, the Ferraris struggled to find the right pace, especially in the second sector. James Calado, in no. 51, recorded the best time of 2:37.782 finishing in sixteenth overall, while the other 488 GT3 Evo 2020s followed further down the rankings. Miguel Molina came twenty-sixth, slowed by traffic, with Marcos Gomes in thirty-first, while Daniel Keilwitz, Louis Machiels and Chris Froggatt lagged further behind.

Q3. The track gradually began to dry out, and the drivers continuously swapped places in the standings, offering a thrilling spectacle in the final seconds. Sergey Sirotkin was the best of the Ferrari drivers, seizing the opportunity to finish seventh in a time of 2:36.450. Tom Blomqvist was also in the top ten, a little over four-tenths of a second behind the Russian. Nicklas Nielsen took eighteenth while Eddie Cheever, Andrea Bertolini and Rino Mastronardi closed on row twenty-three.

Q4. Alessandro Pier Guidi stopped the clock at 2:34.544, the third-fastest overall time with an excellent performance, qualifying the 488 GT3 Evo 2020 in sixth overall. The Italian driver could have done even better, but the traffic slowed him down on his fastest lap. Davide Rigon drove the SMP Racing car to a sixth-row start with the twelfth fastest time, while the Ferrari of HubAuto qualified in twentieth despite Kobayashi's twenty-seventh place. Giancarlo Fisichella in twenty-second, and Daniel Serra in twenty-fourth, both did better than the Japanese driver, while Perel closed further back. Although the Ferrari crews entered in the Pro-Am class occupied the rear positions, they completed the session on the third and fourth rows – respectively for Sky Tempesta Racing and AF Corse – while Rinaldi Racing secured a place on the fifth row.