Image: Ferrari
Antonio Fuoco secured the top spot on the grid for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps race. The Ferrari driver set an impressive lap time of 2:02.600 aboard the #50 Ferrari 499P, beating Matt Campbell in the #6 Porsche 963 by over half a second.
During the 15-minute session to determine the 10 cars that would compete in the Hypercar category, there was a close call between the two Porsches at Les Combes. Matt Campbell in the #5 Porsche 963 almost lost control of his car, causing Kevin Estre in the sister #6 Porsche to come close to colliding with him.
Fortunately, both drivers managed to avoid contact and took to the escape road. However, it was undoubtedly a nerve-wracking moment for the Porsche team!
Brendon Hartley, driving the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, was the first to set a lap time of 2:10.044. As the tires were still not fully warmed up, he improved on his next lap with a time of 2:02.586. Campbell followed closely behind, just 0.344 seconds slower, with Estre a few tenths behind his teammate.
Charles Milesi in the #35 Alpine A424 then delivered an impressive lap, securing second place with a time of 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 managed to surpass them, although he was still almost three tenths slower than Hartley. Campbell then slotted into second place, less than a tenth behind the leading Toyota driver.
Antonio Fuoco, representing Ferrari in the #50 Ferrari 499P, ultimately set the fastest time, beating Hartley by 1.24 seconds.
The cars advancing to the Hyperpole session were 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, Fuoco’s #50 Ferrari, and Kubica in the #83 Ferrari.
In the final 12-minute session, Andlauer set the first competitive lap time of 2:03.314. Hartley followed with a time of 2:03.572, significantly slower than his previous lap.
However, Campbell soon surpassed them all, setting the fastest time of 2:03.107 around Spa.
In the end, it was Fuoco in the Ferrari who claimed pole position, beating the competition by over half a second with a time of 2:02.600.
With two minutes remaining, both Fuoco and Campbell decided to pit, believing they had extracted the maximum performance from their cars. Meanwhile, Milesi in the Alpine A424, currently in eighth place, stayed out on track in an attempt to improve his lap time. However, a minor fire from the exhaust of the A424 forced the session to end prematurely with a yellow flag, confirming Fuoco’s pole position.
Campbell finished in second place, while Alex Lynn secured third in the #2 Cadillac, just eight thousandths of a second behind the Porsche driver.
Full results will be published soon.
The race will commence on Saturday, May 11th at 1pm local time.