De Vries Takes Pole For G-Drive

The sun came out just in time for the European Le Mans Series qualifying at Barcelona although the chilly conditions meant getting the tyres in the correct window could prove difficult.

GTE
As ever the GTE class kicked off proceedings with all eight teams out for the qualifying in the ten minute session. Iron Lynx’s Miguel Molina set the fastest time on his opening tour, clocking a 1:42.041 to inch ahead of Gianmaria Bruni in the Proton Porsche and teammate Rahel Frey in the second Iron Lynx Ferrari.

Following the opening salvo most teams headed back to the pits for a quick service before heading out once more with only a few minutes remaining.

And it was in the dying seconds of the session that Gianmaria Bruni turned the tables on Iron Lynx by setting the only sub 1:42 lap of qualifying. A 1:41.892 proving more than enough to beat Molina’s second attempt.

Rahel Frey qualified third ahead of Richard Lietz in the second Proton Porsche and Ross Gunn in the TF Aston Martin with the top 7 cars covered by just over a second. That left out Paolo Ruberti who was pinged twice for overstepping the track limits and thus failed to set a timed lap.

“This was an amazing session. My first lap was ok but I knew I could improve it I just put it all together and I am happy I managed to. It has been a few years since I last was here but it is an amazing place to race and we will go for it tomorrow.”

LMP3
Qualifying in the LMP3 class boiled down to a battle between the United Autosports pairing of Wayne Boyd and Duncan Tappy and RLR Msports’ Malthe Jacobsen. Initially the Dane led the way before the out-of-sequence United drivers joined the fray. In a tense battle for pole Tappy emerged as fastest, just ahead Jacobsen, with Boyd in hot pursuit.

Laurens Horr was the fastest Duquine in the session, setting the fourth-fastest time ahead of Inter Europol’s Ugo de Wilde who lost his fastest time after exceeding track limits.

But with the field being so close, plenty of drivers were left scratching their heads and rue a missed opportunity, it was definitely Duncan Tappy that had the biggest smile post qualifying: “This means a lot. We’ve had a tough week and the boys had to work hard to get us the car to do this. Barcelona hasn’t always been good to me but this one feels really good.”

LMP2
An epic duel for pole unfurled in LMP2 with a whole host of cars in the mix. Initially it was Job van Uitert and Phil Hanson that led the way for United Autosport before being eclipsed by Dragonspeed’s Ben Hanley.

Nick De Vries then set the timing screens alight on board of the G-Drive Racing Aurus as he went out late, only to complete a single lap of qualifying. De Vries traded fastest sector times with Louis Deletraz in the WRT Oreca. It looked like Deletraz might well have had it where it not for traffic in the final corner, losing several precious tenths of a second.

De Vries then finished of a clean and ultra fast lap to take pole-position by the slimmest of margins. The Dutchman pipping Deletraz by only a few hundredths of a second while Will Stevens set the third fastest lap in the Panis Oreca to pip Dragonspeed and both United drivers. .

“It was important for us to save a set of tyres so we opted to run once. But that means you compromise a bit as well so I was a little but surprised to take pole-position. The car feels great and it’s a great reward for the team after a difficult week”, said De Vries, explaining the sole run in the ten minute session.

The 4 hours of Barcelona starts Sunday at 11:00 CET.

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