A stellar performance from Jules Gounon saw the #107 Bentley outfit take the first ever Blancpain Endurance pole for the ‘works’ M-Sport outfit since the GT3 programme commenced in 2014.
The first of the three sessions for the near-50 car grid saw Andrew Watson at the head of the order for much of the 15-minute duration, courtesy of a 1:53.536 in the #59 Garage 59 Aston Martin.
However, in the final two minutes, both Klaus Bachler (#54 Dinamic Motorsport Porsche) and Raffaele Marciello (#88 AKKA ASP Mercedes) both improved, with the former finding the most time. A 1:53.241 was enough for Dinamic to hold the advantage going into the next session, though the performance could be seen as damage control, given the outfit was expecting a five-place grid penalty after accumulating too many penalty points.
The second session saw a very unstable top end of the order, with many teams and drivers leaping to the head of the field in the early going. However, Andrea Caldarelli’s 1:53.334 proved to be enough to top the session for the #563 Orange 1 FFF Lamborghini outfit.
After a poor first session, the #99 Rowe Racing Porsche improved to sixth in the combined times courtesy of a 1:53.377 from Matt Campbell, good enough for second in Q2. Marvin Kirchhofer rounded out the top three in the #76 R-Motorsport Aston.
After the second session, Dinamic still held the lead per the average lap system across the three sessions; Zaid Ashkanani doing enough to keep the provisional, pre-penalty pole by just 0.032 of a second from the #4 Black Falcon Mercedes, whose quickest time to that point had come from Luca Stolz in Q2.
However, by the end of Q3, Dinamic would be down to seventh in the order before the application of the penalty.
Early on in the third session, Bentley Team M-Sport showed that had a joker card in the #107, that being Jules Gounon. The fastest lap of the weekend thus far, a 1:52.671, was enough for the Frenchman to put the car to the top of the session and the average times rankings that determine the grid.
Maxime Martin almost matched Gounon’s Q3 time, taking second in the session in the #62 R-Motorsport Aston Martin with a 1:52.705, ahead of Mirko Bortolotti, who was third in the session in the #63 Grasser Lamborghini.
It would be Gounon and Bentley with the best average time across the three sessions; an average lap of 1:53.338 between Gounon, Steven Kane and Jordan Pepper would see the #107 trio claim pole for this afternoon’s race; the first pole position for Bentley Team M-Sport.
The #4 Black Falcon Mercedes outfit recorded an average time of 1:53.391 courtesy of Luca Stolz, Yelmer Buurman and Maro Engel, which would net the team second place.
The Silver Cup pole-sitters line-up third for the 1000km race; Mattia Drudi set the fastest time in the #55 Attempto Racing Audi.
The top two rows on the grid will be rounded out by the #563 Orange 1 FFF Racing Lamborghini; Marco Mapelli set the quickest time in the car, but teammates Dennis Lind and Andrea Caldarelli also set competitive times.
The #99 Rowe Porsche and the #62 R-Motorsport Aston Martin round out the top half-dozen.
24th placed Oman Racing with TF Sport will start the race at the had of the PRO-AM order, courtesy of a strong Q3 lap from Charlie Eastwood in the #97 Aston Martin. The British marque also took AM honours in qualifying, courtesy of the #188 Garage 59 Aston, which lines up 35th.
A penalty for an engine change overnight will see the #88 AKKA ASP Mercedes of Michael Meadows, Raffaele Marciello and Vincent Abril start the race from the pitlane.
This evening’s six-hour, 1000km race starts at 18:00 local time.
Photo courtesy of Blancpain GT
