Mercedes and Audi continued to set the pace in the 75-minute-long first portion of qualifying for this weekend’s Spa 24 Hours. After a flurry of quick times early on, there were few improvements at the front towards the end of the daylight session, with the two-hour night qualifying still to follow from 9:45pm local time.
Max Goetz in the #86 HTP car (above) set his 2:18.532 about 25 minutes into the session, displacing early leader Dani Juncadella in the #56 Black Falcon car, who’d gone round in 2:18.603. The rest of the fast runners also set their times in the first couple of laps, including third-quickest Laurens Vanthoor in the #28 Audi (a 2:18.659).
Fourth fastest was Felix Rosenqvist in the #88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes (2:18.729), ahead of fifth-fastest Maro Engel in the #00 Black Falcon Mercedes (2:18.949) and sixth-fastest Christopher Haase in the #26 Sainteloc Audi (2:19.082). Seventh-quickest, and fastest Pro-Am runner, was Franck Perera in the #75 ISR Audi. Robin Frijns in the #2 WRT Audi slotted in behind him late in the session courtesy of a 2:19.111.
Elsewhere, there were some minor off-track moments for a few cars, as well as a seized engine keeping the #57 Black Falcon Mercedes in the garage for the duration of the session. With about 20 minutes to go, a full-course yellow was called when Michele Beretta pulled to a halt on the inside of Stavelot in the #19 GRT Lamborghini. Then, debris on the track at Bruxelles from an apparent tyre failure brought the session to an early end with about three minutes to go.
