+ Top 10 features all four Intercontinental manufacturers
+ Result: Superpole
McLaren will start the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa from pole position for the first time in its illustrious history after Marvin Kirchhöfer produced an astonishing lap in his Garage 59 machine to beat IGTC manufacturers Mercedes-AMG, BMW and Ferrari.
The German shares row one with Jules Gounon who beat Dries Vanthoor by 0.2s, while long-time pace-setter Maxime Martin lines up directly behind his Mercedes-AMG stablemate. The leading Ferrari driven by Alessio Rovera, and Lucas Auer completed the top six but were each subsequently promoted a position due to WRT’s one-second penalty for leaving the pits early.
That also bumped the leading Porsche up to eighth. Joel Sturm’s lap also helped Herberth’s 911 GT3 R bag Gold Cup pole.
MARVIN MAKES HISTORY FOR McLAREN
Kirchhöfer was the favourite to top Friday afternoon's Superpole, which saw one driver representing each of the fastest 20 cars from yesterday's Qualifying session run in reverse order to decide the grid. But while the German was scheduled to go last, there was an early contender for glory.
Given its local connections, the #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG driven by Maxime Martin is among the most popular entries this weekend. Running third made Martin an outside bet for Superpole, but with a time of 2m15.792s the 2016 winner gave himself a fighting chance.
Martin was fastest at the midway point when Henrique Chaves crashed heavily in the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin, causing a red flag. The Portuguese driver dipped a wheel into the gravel on the exit of Fagnes, speared across the track and slammed into the barrier. Chaves was able to walk away, but his car will require considerable work to be ready for the race.
This effectively split the session in two. When the green flag was shown a succession of top drivers failed to topple Martin, though several came extremely close; indeed, Alessio Rovera was just 0.002s shy at the wheel of the #51 AF Corse Francorchamps Motors Ferrari.
It was not until the final few runs that Martin was beaten. The first man to do so was another Belgian hero as Dries Vanthoor shaved 0.079s off the benchmark aboard his #31 Team WRT BMW. Moments later, two-time CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa winner Jules Gounon went even faster, reducing the benchmark to 2m15.527s in the #17 Mercedes-AMG GetSpeed entry.
The sun was shining over Spa-Francorchamps by the time Kirchhöfer rolled off pit lane for his shot at glory. The McLaren star posted a purple first sector and kept up the charge on his way to a 2m15.113s, an astonishing four tenths quicker than his closest rival. The job was already complete.
“That was one of the best laps I’ve ever done,” Kirchhöfer said after receiving the ROWE Pole Award. “I feel like I absolutely nailed it. I think everyone in the paddock knows that it’s very hard to get the perfect lap, but today we achieved it as a team. McLaren has given me a great car and Garage 59 has done an outstanding job.”
The British marque is the first of seven brands represented in the top 10. The #17 Mercedes-AMG will start second in tomorrow’s race, followed by the #31 BMW and the #9 Mercedes-AMG. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Porsche will also be among the top 10.
Gold Cup pole was decided during the session. Joel Sturm was an excellent ninth overall and the best of the Porsche contingent in the #92 Herberth Motorsport entry, four spots clear of Harry King in the #33 Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin.
The full field will contest a 30-minute Warm-Up which takes place on Friday evening at 20:20. The biggest GT race in the world gets underway at 16:30 with comprehensive coverage aired live and free around the globe on the GT World YouTube channel.