+ Turner BMW edges GMG Porsche
+ IGTC title rivals Stolz and Martin share row four
+ Superpole Result (provisional)
Turner Motorsport and BMW will start Intercontinental GT Challenge’s season finale from pole position after Robby Foley beat Ayhancan Güven by 0.002s ahead of Saturday’s DESDER Indianapolis 8 Hour.
GMG’s Porsche was the first to set a representative time in the 15-minute Superpole session but couldn’t respond to Foley’s subsequent 1m22.805s.
The M4 GT3 Evo, which is also in GT World Challenge America powered by AWS championship contention, served notice earlier in the day by topping a three-part qualifying session in which the fastest 10 cars based on combined times progressed to the shootout.
Foley went quickest of all in Q3 after co-driver Connor De Phillippi also topped his session and carried that form into Superpole where Güven and Chris Mies – whose Dollahite Ford Mustang similarly lapped within a tenth of top spot – emerged as Turner’s only serious threat.
The Pro-Am entries in second and third finished ahead of McCann’s Porsche crewed by Alessio Picariello and first non-IGTC entry – Archangel’s McLaren – of Aaron Telitz. Both were three tenths shy of the leading BMW but separated by just 0.019s.
Frederik Schandorff’s AF Corse USA Ferrari rounded out the top six ahead of Mercedes-AMG’s two Pro entries driven by Alex Palou (Lone Star Racing) and Mikael Grenier (JMF Motorsports). IGTC title rivals Luca Stolz and Maxime Martin therefore share row four but will lose the title to Maro Engel – who is contesting DTM’s finale at Hockenheim – if they finish in the same positions tomorrow.
Philip Ellis and (JMF) and Jan Heylin (RS1) completed Superpole’s top 10.
IGTC’s only other potential drivers’ champion, Laurin Heinrich, starts 11th in Wright Motorsports’ #31 Porsche, while recently crowned champion Li Kerong (High Class Racing) qualified highest of Intercontinental’s three Independent Cup contenders in 13th overall.
The season closing DESDER Indianapolis 8 Hour goes green at 12:30 EDT on Saturday. Watch it live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.