Thomas Neubauer, driving the #15 Tech 1 Racing Lexus RC F GT3 he shares with Aurélien Panis took pole position for Race One of the three-race schedule for the second weekend of the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS and the first outing for the Sprint Cup field. Neubauer lapped the 4.226 km Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in 1:32.124, nearly half a second slower than his best time in the morning’s pre-qualifying session.
Joining Neubauer on the front row of the 22-car grid Race One will be the #107 CMR Bentley Continental GT3 piloted by Jules Gounon and Nelson Panciatici, Gounon setting a 1:32.159 on his second lap.
Completing the top three was the #89 AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 in which Jim Pla put in a 1:32.601.
Taking class pole position in the Pro-Am Cup was the #52 AF Corse Ferrari F488 GT3 with Louis Machiels lapping in 1:33.641
After Thomas Neubauer in the #15 Tech 1 Racing Lexus had set the quickest time in pre-qualifying of 1:31.626, it took the field a few laps to get back up to speed in the 15-minute session. Charles Weerts set the early pace with a 1:32.858 on his second lap in the #32 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 he shares with Dries Vanthoor who was third quickest in the morning session.
Quickest of the Silver Cup class after the first five minutes was Jim Pa in the #89 AKKA ASP Mercedes who lapped in 1:32.969.
As the session moved into the second half, Gounon in the #107 Bentley was knocking door of the 1:31s with a 1:32.159 on his third lap. Neubauer put in his provisional pole time, .035 seconds quicker than Gounon with less than two minutes remaining.
As the chequered flag went out for the first qualifying session, Neubauer remained at the tope of the timing screens for Race One with Gounon starting alongside the French driver.
Qualifying for Race Two saw Raffaele Marciello in the #88 AKKA ASP Mercedes set the early pace with a 1:32.275. However, Panciatici showed the pace of the #107 Bentley by going .008 seconds quicker to take provisional pole. Marciello pitted as the #55 Attempto Racing Audi went quicker with a 1:32.158 in the hands of Mattia Drudi but the Italian came back out to go into the 1:31s for the first time over the two sessions with a 1:31.641 to take back provisional pole with less than four minutes remaining.
As the chequered flag came out, it was Kelvin van der Linde who was second quickest with a 1:31.992 in the #31 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi with the #4 HRT Mercedes driven by Maro Engel third on the timing screens.
Quickest of the Silver Cup entries for Race two was the #26 Sainteloc Racing Audi driven by Simon Gachet. Class pole for the Pro Am class was taken for the second time of the weekend by the #52 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Andrea Bertolini.
Race One gets underway at 19:15 local time.
