Antonio Fuoco took pole for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, with the Ferrari driver setting a 2:02.600 onboard the #50 Ferrari 499P, over half a second in front of #6 Porsche 963’s Matt Campbell.
As the Hypercars filed out of the pitlane for the 15 minute session to decide the 10 cars which compete in Hypercar, the two Porsches almost collided at Les Combes. Matt Campbell, in the #5 Porsche 963, nearly lost the end rear of his car, leading Kevin Estre, in the sister #6 Porsche, almost going into the back of him.
Both took to the escape road with no contact between the two, but sure to give the Porsche team a scare!
Brendon Hartley, onboard the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, was the first to set a lap time, a 2:10.044. With the tyres still not yet up to temperature, he followed this up with a 2:02.586, with Campbell filing in behind, 0.344 off, and Estre just a few tenths off his teammate.
Charles Milesi, in the #35 Alpine A424, then put in a stonking lap to go second with a 2:02.898, followed by Robin Frijns in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8.
However, Robert Kubica in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 then pipped them — but was still almost three tenths off Hartley. This soon changed, though, with Campbell slotting into second, less than a tenth off the Kiwi Toyota driver.
Ferrari’s Antonio Fuoco, onboard the #50 Ferrari 499P, was then able to go 1.24 quicker than Hartley, ending the session quickest.
Going into Hyperpole, then, was the #2 Cadillac, two factory Porsches, the #99 Proton Porsche of Julien Andlauer, the lone #8 Toyota, the #12 JOTA Porsche 963, the #20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Frijns, the #335 Alpine A424 of Charles Milesi, the Fuoco’s #50 Ferrari, and Kubica in the #83 Ferrari.
As the final 12 minute session started, Andlauer set the first competitive and representative lap, a 2:03.314. He was followed by Hartley, with the Kiwi setting a 2:03.572 — substantially slower than his earlier lap.
However, Campbell soon went quicker, with the Australian lapping Spa in 2:03.107 to top the timesheets.
In the end, though, it was Ferrari’s Fuoco who took pole, by over half a second, as the Italian set a 2:02.600.
With two minutes to go, Fuoco and Campbell pitted, having extracted everything they believed they could from their cars. Alpine’s Milesi, currently eighth, stayed out on track in an attempt to better his lap time — but a small fire from the exhaust of the A424 soon put paid to that idea, ending the session with a yellow flag and confirming Fuoco’s pole position.
With Campbell second, Alex Lynn slotted into third in the #2 Cadillac, with the Brit just eight thousandths off the Porsche driver.
Full results coming as soon as they are published.
The race begins Saturday 11th May at 1pm local time.
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