AKKA-ASP takes pole position for the 24 Hours of Spa

Mercedes did a great show during the Super Pole for the 24 Hours of Spa, and Raffaele Marciello made sure that the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes AMG GT3 was up to business by taking the top spot, which may be useful in the teams bid for the GT World Challenge Europe and the Intercontinental GT Challenge.

All sessions had a change compared to previous years due to the current anti-COVID measures and lack of manpower in the stewards side, as only Radillion will have its track limits enforced as the present crew could only take care of this peculiar corner, opening the driving lines at various points of the circuit, such as the final part of Blanchimont and the Bus Stop chicane due to their runoff areas on the outside line.

The No. 27 HubAuto Ferrari was the first to jump in with Tom Blomqvist, lapping at the 2:34 mark, and the No. 99 ROWE Porsche improved to 2:34.0 by opening the line at the final chicane. The No. 163 Emil Frey Lamborghini was the first in the 2:33 mark with 2:33.400, with no immediate improvements.

After five minutes the No. 25 Sainteloc Audi clocked 2:32.979 and raised the challenge to the pole position, and with many cars still trying to discover what was the best exit of the last chicane, times weren’t that close to threat the leading Audi.

The final 10 minutes were opened with the No. 40 GPX Porsche having a close shot at the pole with 2:32.990, but most of the lap were still in the low 2:33 mark, until the No. 4 HRT Mercedes comes to crush the clock with a 2:32.5 time, only to see Raffaele Marcielo in the No. 88 AKKA-ASP Mercedes clock a 2:32.166, which he couldn’t improve in his second shot but it was still good for a front row start. Kelvin van der Linde was second in the No. 31 WRT Audi, and despite being in a fast run, that wasn’t enough to improve, meaning that AKKA-ASP was celebrating the pole position for the 24 Hours of Spa.

24 Hours of Spa - Super Pole results

Out of the 20 cars that took part of the Super Pole, six stayed in the same second of the polesitter, with fourteen cars staying within 2 seconds off the top time.

The 24 Hours of Spa will start at 1:30 P.M. local time.

PHOTOS: SRO/Kevin Pecks