24h Le Mans
Former F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne clocked the fastest time this afternoon at qualifying at the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The result gave G-Drive Racing an additional point in the championship, with Racing Engineering now trailing the Russian team by 35 points.
Qualifying at the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the fifth round of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), took place on a dry track unlike the free practice sessions! But, heavy rains are expected to shake things up during the race tomorrow.
Jean-Eric Vergne (#26 ORECA 07) secured the pole in 2:00.735, beating Filipe Albuquerque's time - his fastest of the year (United Autosports' #22 Ligier JS P217 now equipped with Michelin tires) - by less than two-tenths of a second. G-Drive Racing, scoring its first pole position, is even closer to clinching the championship title thanks to the extra point earned for the pole. The top 3 is rounded out by Nelson Panciatici at the wheel of Duqueine Engineering's #29 ORECA 07. The fastest Dallara P217, the #30 entered by AVF By Adrian Vallés, qualified in eight position.
After its first podium of the year at Silverstone, the Ultimate team took the pole in Belgium thanks to Matthieu Lahaye (#17 Norma M30-Nissan). The French driver, who has claimed a podium twice in the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2008 and 2010), is trailed by two Ligier JS P3s fielded by Eurointernational (#11) and 360 Racing (#6).
In LMGTE, the two Porsche 911 RSRs entered by Proton Competition clocked the quickest times, the top time of 2:15.654 going to current championsip leader Matteo Cairoli (#88). The third time was clocked by the #80 Porsche fielded by Ebimotors (sixth in LMGTE Am at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans).
The start of the four-hour race will be given tomorrow, Sunday, at 12:30 local time.
PHOTOS (Copyright - Jakob Ebrey Photography): G-Drive Racing's #26 ORECA 07 clocked the fastest time in qualifying.
