Photo: intercontinentalgtchallenge.com
Maxi Goetz, Lewis Williamson and Raffaele Marciello combined to put the #43 Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 on provisional pole for Sunday October 28’s Laguna Seca Raceway California 8 Hours, the finla round of the 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge, finishing the three 15-minute qualifying sessions an average .125 seconds ahead of the #175 Mercedes-AMG Team Sun Energy1 Racing Mercedes, piloted by Maxi Buhk, Tristan Vautier and Maro Engel.
Third quickest over the three sessions was the sister Strakka Racing entry, the #44 car driven by Jack Hawksworth, Christian Vietoris and Adrien Tambay.
It was a solid afternoon’s work for the Silverstone, UK-based team after Strakka Racing also headed the time-sheets in the GT3 Pro-Am category, the #42 Mercedes of Felipe Fraga, Davide Fumanelli and team owner Nick Leventis lapping the 3.603 kms Californian circuit .026 seconds quicker than the #75 Sun Energy1 Racing Mercedes piloted by Kenny Habul, Mikael Grenier and Luca Stolz.
The #51 Team Panoz Racing Panoz Avezzano was quickest of the GT4 entries, the car carrying a tribute to the late Dr Don Panoz reading; “For The Fans” – Dr Panoz’s guiding thoughts when revitalising sportscar racing in the US in the late 1990s.
The top 15 cars will now enter the Super Pole session at 14:40 local time to determine the front of the grid for Sunday’s eight-hour race, the final round of the 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge.
