Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP will start the Joburg Kyalami 9 Hour from pole position thanks to Jules Gounon’s fastest time in Pre-Qualifying after heavy rain washed out both Qualifying proper and Superpole this afternoon.
AF Corse’s #71 Ferrari starts alongside thanks to Nicklas Nielsen who pipped AF Corse team-mate Miguel Molina to second place in the dry and sunny morning session.
Indeed, the contrast between before and after lunch could not have been starker, bright skies being replaced by ominously dark clouds, heavy rain, thunder and lightning for the third consecutive Kyalami IGTC meeting affected by stormy weather
Qualifying was initially delayed before cars ventured out once the rain eased. But the respite from the weather proved short-lived and it was soon apparent that Q1 could not continue. Qualifying was cancelled entirely soon after.
The rain continued to fall as the afternoon progressed, which left no opportunity for deep puddles to drain and track conditions to improve sufficiently. Thus Superpole, which should have featured Pre-Qualifying’s top-eight drivers each setting two timed laps, could not take place either.
That left AKKA ASP in the box seat courtesy of its morning benchmark. The car shared by Gounon, Raffaele Marciello and title contender Timur Boguslavskiy should be considered a worthy pole winner after it also topped both test sessions and Free Practice on Thursday.
Equally, Gounon’s Pre-Qualifying time – 1m42.465s – was the fastest of the week so far as well as 0.449s quicker than Nielsen in second.
Mercedes-AMG also start fourth thanks to SunEnergy1’s Mikael Grenier who beat both factory Audis en route to the fastest Pro-Am time.
Speaking of Audi, their title-contending crews completed the top-six despite Sainteloc’s example stopping on the start/finish straight with 20 minutes of Pre-Qualifying left to run. Patric Niederhauser and Markus Winkelhock are one place in front of Christopher Haase, although all three are just two points behind Come Ledogar/Alessandro Pier Guidi and Nielsen in the IGTC drivers’ standings ahead of what promises to be a winner-takes-all showdown on Saturday.
Boguslavskiy, meanwhile, needs help from elsewhere if he is to overturn a 15-point deficit.
Sainteloc’s Silver Cup crew start seventh, one place clear of High Class Racing’s similar Audi which goes head-to-head with SunEnergy1 for Pro-Am honours tomorrow.
This is the first time that Pre-Qualifying has been used to determine a grid in one of SRO Motorsports Group’s halo series. Although essentially another Free Practice session in all but name, it allows drivers to officially qualify and organisers to set a grid without Qualifying or Superpole being completed. The term has been a mainstay of SRO-run series since 2010’s FIA GT1 World Championship.
The final round of 2021’s Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli campaign goes green at 13:00 SAST (GMT +2) on Saturday. Viewers around the world can watch live and for free on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel, while SuperSport is showing the race in its entirety across South Africa.
Pre Qualifying report
AKKA ASP picked up where they left off on Thursday by setting fastest time in Pre-Qualifying for the 2021 Joburg Kyalami 9 Hour this morning.
Jules Gounon recorded the best time of the week – 1m42.465s – early in the 105-minute session after the #89 Mercedes-AMG he shares with Raffaele Marciello and Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli title contender Timur Boguslavskiy previously topped both tests and Night Practice.
The Frenchman set his time early on before the first of two red flags, caused by Tschops Sipuka rearranging the tyre wall, resulting in a lengthy delay.
Only Marciello came close to beating his teammate’s time once the session resumed with 75 minutes left to run.
AF Corse’s Ferraris were best of the rest in second and third, Nicklas Nielsen claiming intra-team bragging rights over Alessandro Pier Guidi. However, both were more than 0.5s adrift of Gounon’s time.
Mikael Grenier underlined Mercedes-AMG’s apparent pace by slotting SunEnergy1’s Pro-Am entry into fourth ahead of both factory Audis. Sainteloc’s example caused the second red flag when Markus Winkelhock ground to a halt on the start/finish straight with just under 20 minutes remaining.
Sainteloc still beat WRT to fifth place, while the team’s Silver Cup entry completed the trio of R8s in seventh.
