Pierre Kaffer came out of nowhere on his final lap to snatch pole from Ram Racing, setting a blistering time of 1:48.024 to put the Black Pearl Racing by Rinaldi Ferrari 458 at the front of the field for the race later today.
‘Well, after the 60 code at the end, I thought it would be difficult because there was only a few minutes left. I had quite a clear gap in front of the cars which I had to overtake though, so I was able to take pole,’ said a jubilant Kaffer after getting out the car.
Much of the session was headed by the #30 Ram Racing Mercedes SLS with Tom Onslow-Cole at the wheel. The times crept down towards the end of the session, with the Brit setting a 1:49.447 to take what looked like pole. But in the end the Onslow-Cole and the team would end up third on the grid.
With 5 minutes to go in the 45 minute long session, a Code 60 procedure was called as the marshals needed to move the #77 GDL Porsche which was stranded in the gravel at turn 12. This meant the drivers only had one hot lap after the car was moved.
As the flag came out to end qualifying, both Pierre Kaffer and Matteo Maluecelli leapfrogged the Ram Mercedes to go 1-2. Malucelli ended up posting a 1:49.291 to go two tenths quicker than Onslow-Cole. But it was Kaffer’s time which was eye-opening, as he managed to grab pole by over a second.
A6 runners, like in Free Practice, made up the majority of the top ten. The #20 MRS Porsche Cup car in the 997 class was the only non A6 runner to get that high up the order, after a 1:54.320 lap which put them 10th.
The race is due to start at 14:00 local time now, after an announced short delay.
Stephen Kilbey
