Sarah Bovy achieved her first pole position of the year in the #85 Iron Dames team for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the third round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship. The Belgian driver claimed the top spot in the highly competitive LMGT3 category during qualifying, excelling in both the initial 10-minute and the 12-minute Hyperpole sessions. The discussion around track limits, particularly for the Bronze-rated drivers who qualify in this category, was a prominent topic, with some initial laps being deleted as they pushed the boundaries. Additionally, the degradation of the tires meant that there was limited opportunity for consecutive flying laps, leaving little room for error in terms of track limits violations.
Sarah Bovy demonstrated the impressive speed of the #85 Iron Dames’ Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 EVO2 from the beginning of the session. Last year, she secured three pole positions, further showcasing her talent. While Bovy commanded the track, the attention shifted to the drivers below the top spot, as their grid positions were being finalized. Giorgio Roda, driving the #88 Ford Mustang for Proton Competition, went wide on the gravel, allowing Ian James to knock the #88 out of contention for pole position, ultimately securing P4. Ryan Hardwick, driving the sibling #77 car, finished behind in P12.
Another notable moment during the Hyperpole session was Arnold Robin’s entry into Hyperpole for the first time. Robin, driving the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F, marked the team’s debut in the WEC, as well as the first appearance of the Lexus RC F in this competition, securing 10th position. However, the session was not without its incidents. Alex Malaykhin had a dramatic crash in the #92 Manthey Porsche 911 LMGT3.R, losing control of the car at the top of Radillion and spinning into the tyre barrier. This resulted in a red flag, allowing for the cleanup of debris and the damaged Porsche. Malaykhin emerged from the car unharmed and was released from the medical center.
As the session resumed, the #78 Lexus of Robin encountered electronic issues, leaving the car stranded in the pitlane. The team attempted to resolve the problem by fitting a new battery to restart the engine, but they were unable to continue any further. United Autosports stood out as the only team with two cars, both McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs, in the top-10. Joshua Caygill in the #95 showed more promise compared to his teammate James Cottingham in the #59. Ultimately, Bovy secured pole position with a time of 2:20.755 in her #85 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, followed closely by Caygill in second place, 0.377 seconds behind. Ahmed al Harthy in the #46 WRT BMW M4 finished just behind the McLaren with a lap time of 2:21.138. Yasser Shahin claimed fourth position in the #92 Manthey EMA Porsche with a time of 2:21.285, while Cottingham rounded off the top-five in the #59 with a time of 2:21.293. This qualifying performance marked United Autosports’ best result since the start of the 2024 season with their McLaren LMGT3 program.