The #17 GetSpeed Mercedes shared by Maxime Martin, Maximilian Götz and Fabian Schiller secured the fastest overall average in Thursday evening’s qualifying session for the 2026 Spa 24 Hours.
The qualifying format for the Spa 24 Hours featured a significant shake-up this year. Not only was Superpole expanded to the top 32 cars, up from the traditional 20, but the track time itself in the four-part qualifying was split.
Each of the four 30-minute sessions was divided into three ten-minute segments to prevent traffic chaos between different classes. Bronze and Pro-Am entries kicked off each segment, while the Pro drivers took over for the final minutes.
For instance, Q2 was split into Q2A (Bronze/Pro-Am), Q2B (Gold/Silver), and Q2C (Pro), with Q3 and Q4 following the exact same pattern.
As usual, the grid was determined by the average time of all drivers on a car. The overall fastest average was delivered by the #17 GetSpeed Mercedes, while Simon Gachet in the #111 CSA McLaren delivered the absolute fastest individual lap of the evening. The ultimate grid positions in the Top 32 will be decided in Superpole.
Two red flags in Q2
While Q1 was reserved for the four-driver line-ups, Q2 was red-flagged twice during the opening minutes. First, Reinhold Krahn’s #8 Car Collection Porsche was tagged and sent into the Fagnes gravel trap by Jordan Boisson in the #999 GetSpeed Mercedes.
Shortly after the restart, Kenzie Beecroft spun the #914 Razoon Porsche at Speaker’s Corner. Mathieu Castelein in the #28 Haas RT Audi had nowhere to go, joining the Porsche in the gravel. This marked the second time on Thursday that the Haas RT squad found themselves stranded in the gravel (see below).
Due to these back-to-back interruptions in the Q2A segment, eight Pro-Am and Bronze Cup entries were left without a competitive lap time.
In contrast, Q3 and Q4 ran without major incidents, although Tim Heinemann provided some drama with a spectacular off-track excursion through the gravel in the #60 JMW Ferrari.
One Bronze Entry Makes the Cut
Within the Pro Cup, both Lamborghini Temerario GT3 entries faced a tense battle to make it into the top 32. Ultimately, both cars squeezed through in 26th and 29th respectively. However, there was a shakeup in the Gold Cup, as the #24 Steller Corvette missed out by quite some margin in 41st.
Six Silver Cup entries successfully punched their ticket to the Superpole: the #5 Optimum McLaren, the #25 Sainteloc Audi, the #6 GetSpeed Mercedes, the #66 Attempto Audi, the #44 Greystone McLaren, and the #52 AF Corse Ferrari.
The sensation of the evening came from the Bronze Cup, as the #74 Kessel Ferrari claimed 30th overall to secure a spot in the shootout.
Meanwhile, the #20 Motopark Mercedes missed out on the Superpole by a agonizing 0.010 seconds, with the #45 Rinaldi Ferrari falling short by just 0.019 seconds.
Fastest Times by Session
Q1: Salman Owega (#5 Optimum McLaren) – 2m17.867s
Q2: Alessio Rovera (#51 AF Corse Ferrari) – 2m17.012s
Q3: Simon Gachet (#111 CSA McLaren) – 2m16.685s
Q4: Fabian Schiller (#17 GetSpeed Mercedes) – 2m:16.817s
The Superpole on Friday, starting at 3:25 p.m., will be held in a new format this time: The 32 qualified cars will compete in a four-part qualifying session. After ten minutes, 16 cars will be eliminated. The remaining 16 cars will then compete in a seven-minute session, in which another eight cars will be eliminated. The remaining eight cars will be whittled down to four, who will then compete in a shootout to determine the pole position.
Practice Recap
Free Practice 1: Ferrari laid down an early marker. Alessio Rovera set the fastest time of 2:17.234 in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari early in the 90-minute session. The track action was halted once by a red flag when Kerong Li stopped out on circuit in the #86 High Class Porsche.
Free Practice 2: Ferrari repeated their pace-setting performance, this time courtesy of the #50 sister car. With air temperatures reaching 34 degrees Celsius, Arthur Leclerc topped the charts with a 2:18.169, which remained slightly slower than Rovera’s morning benchmark.
This session also saw a red flag when Pierre Castelein spun into the Speaker’s Corner gravel trap following contact with the #8 Car Collection Porsche. Meanwhile, the #79 Tsunami RT Porsche sat out the entire session due to an engine change.
Results can be found on the GTWC Europe website here.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
