AO by TF’s ORECA will start the ELMS 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps tomorrow from pole position after a 2:01.253 flyer at the end of LMP2 Qualifying from IMSA GTP ace Louis Deletraz.
The Swiss took the top spot by four-tenths over Charles Milesi in the #65 Panis Racing ORECA amid a flurry of improvements at the death of the session.
Tom Dillmann took third in the #43 Inter Europol 07 Gibson, while the #37 COOL Racing ORECA ended up fourth.
The times in the session were not as rapid as expected earlier in the week. Many teams felt a sub-2:00 lap was possible, especially after Deletraz set a 2:00.674 during Wednesday’s testing. But a red flag in the session breaking up the running and an increase in ambient temperature today meant a 2:01 was good enough for pole.
“This track is so nice to drive, but the red flag was tough, it gave us one lap to really push at the end,” Deletraz said.
The #25 Algarve Pro ORECA slotted in fifth and will start tomorrow’s race on the third row alongside the #23 United Autosports prototype.
As previously mentioned, the session for the top class runners was paused after two cars ended up stranded at two separate corners with just under six minutes remaining.
Ben Hanley was the first driver picked up by the cameras, stuck in the gravel at Pouhon in the #22 United car. The second was the #47 COOL Racing ORECA of Fred Vesti, who found himself caught in the Les Combes run-off. The two cars will start 13th and 14th respectively as neither driver was permitted to rejoin the session.
The championship-leading Richard Mille by TDS ORECA will start from pole in LMP2 Pro/Am after Rodrigo Sales snatched the top spot from Giorgio Roda in the dying moments of the category’s session.
Sales’ improvement, to a 2:04.537, secured his first ELMS pole, snapped Roda’s qualifying streak this season and put the #29 crew in a prime position to extend their slim championship lead tomorrow.
John Falb, who sat on provisional pole for much of the 15-minute run, will start third behind the Proton ORECA in his #24 Nielsen ORECA with a time within two tenths off pole.
LMP3 Qualifying saw RLR M Sport’s #15 Ligier go quickest with a big improvement from Gael Julien on his final flying lap. His 2:11.847 at the end of the session put him just four hundredths up on Manuel Espirito Santo in the #17 COOL Racing JS P320.
The #88 Inter Europol example took third, while the #8 Team Virage Ligier took fourth. Oscar Tunjo ended up fifth in the WTM by Rinaldi Duqueine after trading fastest time with Espirito Santo early in the run.
The points-leading Eurointernational Ligier will start from seventh in class.
The P3 session, like LMP2, didn’t run clean and was red-flagged three minutes in when Imola pole-sitter Wyatt Brichacek pulled off the circuit by the karting track when the right-rear wheel on his DKR Duqueine became detached. He was unable to rejoin the session after being recovered and will start from the back tomorrow.
LMGT3 saw Iron Lynx’s #63 Lamborghini break the Iron Dames Porsche’s streak of three consecutive pole positions, Hiroshi Hamaguchi taking pole with a 2:17.873.
It was a superb performance from the Japanese racer, who ended up over a second clear of the other drivers after a six-lap stint in the session.
“I can’t be any happier as we are carrying 30 kg of success ballast, so it was not easy. It’s going to get tougher and tougher, the most important thing is we finish on the podium,” Hamaguchi, who along with Axcil Jefferies and Andrea Caldarelli leads the LMGT3 championship despite not having claimed a win so far this year.
Johnny Laursen came closest in the Formula Racing Ferrari, the Dane briefly getting within a second of Hamaguchi before having his final flying lap deleted for track limits. Luckily, Laursen’s previous best was a 2:18.916, still good enough for a spot on the front row.
The Grid Motorsport by TF Aston Martin would end up third, 1.2 seconds off pole after Martin Berry’s efforts. The Paul Ricard-winning Spirit of Race Ferrari will start fourth ahead of the #85 Iron Dames Porsche.
Sarah Bovy claiming a top-five spot in the #85 was extremely impressive. The team missed FP2 this morning and was late to Qualifying after its mechanics built up a spare chassis overnight and through the morning following Rahel Frey’s heavy Free Practice 1 incident.
The 2024 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is set to get underway at 11:30 local time tomorrow morning. It can be streamed live and free on the ELMS YouTube channel.
Image courtesy of the ELMS
