The #22 United Autosports Ligier JS P320 will start the Le Mans Cup race at Aragon later today from pole position, after a 1:54.235 tour of the circuit from Josh Caygill at the death of the session following a red flag.
Caygill’s performance ensures that he and his teammate Garnett Patterson are well-positioned for their first race together in the #22. The pair have been called up to stand in this week for regulars Gerry Kraut and Scott Andrews, who are unable to compete this weekend due to clashing commitments for both drivers elsewhere.
The red flag in the session came after a brief yellow flag for a spin by Chris Short in the #15 Inter Europol Ligier at Turn 12. Moments later, with 4:21 remaining, the red flags came out when the #26 360 Racing Ligier of Terrance Woodwood stopped. The Briton had to climb out the car rapidly after the fire extinguisher went off in his cockpit.
Starting alongside the #22 United Ligier on the front row will be the #48 Murphy Prototypes Duqueine, after a strong performance form WTM by Rinaldi ELMS driver Torsten Kratz, who held a provisional pole before the red flag.
Kratz is a late addition to the Irish-flagged team. He received a last-minute call-up just this morning after John Ferguson withdrew himself from the meeting due to the effects of the heat. Kratz, who is familiar with the Duqueine chassis due to his ELMS commitments, was immediately up to speed and set a best time of 1:54.311.
Further back the #25 360 Racing Ligier will start third, with the #16 Team Virage Ligier alongside it on the second row. Virage’s #59 Ligier, will start fifth.
In the GT3 session, it was the HCR With Caffeine Six Porsche 911 GT3 R that ran fastest. The best lap was a 1:58.738 from Tim Creswick, who made multiple improvements during the session en route to securing the team’s first pole position of the season.
“We have been strong all week, and the birthday boy delivered himself a great present with that lap! We are hopeful for a strong race later,” Creswick’s teammate Anders Fjordbach said after the session.
Alex Martin had a strong run to make it a front-row lockout for Porsche in the #64 fielded by Team Parker Racing. Martin’s time was a tenth and a half off pole and only just faster than the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin which will start third after Arnold Robin’s efforts.
The two AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3s will start fourth and fifth, with the #83 ahead of the #51.
It briefly looked as if the #70 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini would score pole, but it was instead dropped to 11th on the screens after its fastest lap was deleted.
Brendon Leitch set a rapid 1:57.175 late in the session in the #70 to put the team on provisional pole, but as Leitch is a silver-graded driver, he was ineligible to take part in the session and the car was subsequently disqualified.
It is unclear whether this was a mistake, or an intentional move by the team to allow Leitch to shakedown the car following its incident during yesterday’s track action that required lengthy repairs.
The Le Mans Cup race at Aragon is set to get underway at 17:40 local time later today.
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Image courtesy of United Autosports
