Dynamite ........

Baja Aragón Masia Pelarda 2015

BLANCPAIN GT SERIES 24H Spa, Qualifs : Stippler et l’Audi R8 LMS/WRT en pole !

Superpole :

1 – Audi R8 LMS – Audi Sport Team WRT (Stippler) : 2.18.130

2 – McLaren 650S GT3 – Von Ryan Racing (Estre) à 17 millièmes

3 – Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 – Kessel Racing (Piccini) à 46 millièmes

4 – McLaren 650S GT3 – Von Ryan Racing (Parente) à 124 millièmes

5 – Bentley Continental GT3 – Bentley Team M-Sport (Soulet) à 220 millièmes

6 – Audi R8 LMS – Audi Sport Team WRT (Vanthoor) à 282 millièmes

7 – Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 – Black Falcon (Schneider) à 297 millièmes

8 – BMW Z4 GT3 – Marc VDS (Catsburg) à 321 millièmes

9 – Bentley Continental GT3 – HTP (Abril) à 352 millièmes

10 – Bentley Continental GT3 – Bentley Team M-Sport (Kane) à 362 millièmes

A noter que dix autos sont sous investigation pour le contrôle des limites de la piste : #5, #6, #8, #9, #11, #18, #21, #58, #59, #84.

Les chronos sont ici

Five different brands in six tenths during Superpole

 

Frank Stippler takes pole for Total 24 Hours of Spa

Frank Stippler (#2 Audi Sport Team WRT) proved to be the fastest qualifier during the Superpole Session for the 2015 Total 24 Hours of Spa. The German driver – the winner in 2012 - barely pipped the #58 Von Ryan Racing McLaren of Kevin Estre by 0.017 of a second, with Andrea Piccini in the #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari - fastest in the Pro-Am Cup - only 0.046 behind. Alvaro Parente in the second of the Von Ryan Racing McLarens completed the second row of the grid. With cars from Bentley and BMW in the top 10 as well, this meant five different brands on the first five rows of the starting grid for the 2015 Total 24 Hours of Spa.

Superpole is all about having a faultless lap, something which is hard to accomplish under normal conditions, and the added pressure did not make the challenge any easier. Laurens Vanthoor (#1 Audi Sport Team WRT) and Maxime Martin (#45 BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS), the two Belgian favourites to take the pole, were not able to set a perfect lap and had to settle for sixth and tenth positions respectively.

Vanthoor's team-mate Frank Stippler had a near perfect run in the #2 Audi Sport Team WRT and managed to set a 2'18.130, the fastest lap in the GT3 era of the Total 24 Hours of Spa. The top three cars were separated by less than five hundredths of a second (and the fastest ten cars - representing five different manufacturers - by less than six tenths), another proof of the competitiveness of the Blancpain Endurance Series and the Total 24 Hours of Spa in particular.

So Frank Stippler and Andrea Piccini took pole in Pro Cup and Pro-Am Cup respectively, while the #24 Team Parker Racing Audi will be on pole for the Am Cup, after the #10 Akka ASP Ferrari lost its fastest lap and incurred a ten-place grid penalty after a yellow flag infringement during the night qualifying session on Thursday evening.

Tomorrow promises plenty of activities. When the cars of the Total 24 Hours of Spa are competing on track, the Lotto Village will be the epicentre of the off-track entertainment. The highlight is without a doubt Martin Solveig’s DJ Set, but before the Frenchman takes to the stage, other DJs will give their all as well, starting at 9pm. But the Lotto Village is worth visiting long before the concert starts. Fans of the Total 24 Hours of Spa can also admire the amazing riders from the Circus Trial Tour or the finalists of the Nismo GT Academy. There is plenty of activities for the whole family as well. Bumper cars, fairground rides, drink and food stands, merchandising shops: you can find everything in the Lotto Village. And do not forget the impressive fireworks on Saturday evening!

Tomorrow's action starts at 9am, with a twenty-minute Warm Up, followed by four support races: the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, Trofeo Abarth Europe, Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo and Porsche Carrera Cup. The start of the 67th running of the Total 24 Hours of Spa will be given at 4.30pm.

 

Frank Stippler (#2 Audi Sport Team WRT): "The guys have done a great job in preparing the car for the Superpole. This was about the best lap I could do, I think. Of course I am proud of this achievement, but it is only a small step. Tomorrow we will see how competitive the car is over a long run."

Kevin Estre (#58 Von Ryan McLaren): "Yesterday I found it very difficult to drive the car, but during the night session we slowly managed to improve the car. For this Superpole the engineers decided to try something new and it worked out very well. Of course it is a bit disappointing to miss the pole position by just 17 thousandths of a second, but it still is a good starting position for the race."

Andrea Piccini (#11 Kessel Racing Ferrari): "After the qualifying session I promised I would try to beat Laurens Vanthoor and Maxime Martin - and I did - but these two guys proved to be even quicker. Our aim is to go for the Pro-Am Cup honours, my team-mates are in a good position for the championship, but if we can go for a good result overall, we will take that opportunity as well."

8 Heures de Suzuka : Team Green en pole provisoire / Team Green grabs provisional pole

Le team Green a créé la surprise en signant le meilleur temps des essais qualificatifs de la 38ème édition des 8 Heures de Suzuka, deuxième épreuve du Championnat du monde FIM d’Endurance (EWC). La Kawasaki n° 87 devance les teams officiels, Yamaha Factory Racing team et Musashi Harc-Pro Racing Team.

Les 8 heures de Suzuka dérogent au règlement du Championnat du monde FIM d’Endurance. Contrairement  aux autres épreuves, on ne retient pas ici la moyenne des meilleurs temps des trois pilotes mais uniquement le temps du meilleur pilote.

Avec 84 équipes inscrites, les pilotes ont été partagés en deux groupes pour disputer les qualifications. Les cinq teams plus rapides de chaque groupe à l’issue des qualifications sont qualifiés pour disputer la Superpole, Top 10 Trial, qui redistribue les 10 premières places sur la grille de départ. Les teams choisissent deux pilotes pour un seul tour lancé. Le moins rapide part en premier.

L’étonnant Kazuki Watanabe a battu le record en endurance de Takuya Tsuda réalisé lors de la Superpole 2014 en 2.06.703. Watanabe a bouclé son meilleur tour lors de la deuxième séance qualificative en 2.06.656 et hisse la Kawasaki n°87 en pole provisoire des 8 Heures de Suzuka.

Yamaha Factory Racing Team (Espargaro/Smith/Nakasuga) pointe en deuxième position avec un chrono de 2.06.877 signé par le pilote japonais. Pol Espargaro a chuté lors de la deuxième session endommageant lourdement la Yamaha n°21 mais sans gravité pour l’Espagnol.

Le Team Kagayama (Kagayama/Kiyonari/Haga), Musashi Harc-Pro Racing Team (Stoner/Takahashi/Van Der Mark), YOSHIMURA SUZUKI Shell ADVANCE (Waters/Lowes/Tsuda), MotoMap Supply, Eva RT Test Type 01 Trick Star, FCC TSR Honda (Hookes/Aegerter/Smith), Honda Dream RT Sakuraï Honda et Toho Racing with MORIWAKI sont qualifiés pour la Superpole.

Sixième du groupe A et première équipe permanente, le YART (Parkes/Silva/Morais) qui a enlevé la pole position en 2012 et 2013, échoue de peu aux portes de la Superpole malgré un tour en 2.08.973 de Broc Parkes. L’équipe autrichienne s’est montrée cependant plus rapide que le quatrième du Groupe B.

Malgré une piste sèche, on dénombre de nombreuses chutes dont notamment celles de Takumi Takahashi, coéquipier de Casey Stoner sur la Honda officielle, Grégory Leblanc et Matthieu Lagrive (SRC Kawasaki), Bastien Mackels (BMW Motorrad France Penz13.com), Anthony Delhalle (SERT), Freddy Foray (Honda Racing Team).

Les dix premières équipes ont rendez-vous demain à partir de 15h30 (Heure locale, 8h30 heure française) pour disputer le Top 10 Trial.

Team Green was the surprise winner of qualifying for the 38th 8 Hours of Suzuka, round two of the 2015 FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC). The N°87 Kawasaki outpaced the Yamaha Factory Racing Team and Musashi Harc-Pro Racing Team machines.

In contrast to the other rounds of the EWC, the qualifying order for the Japanese classic is not based on the average of the three riders’ best laps. Instead, positions are simply dictated by the fastest time of each bike.

Given the 84-strong entry, the riders were split into two groups for the session, with the five fastest teams in each group going on to take part in Saturday’s Top 10 Trial shootout which will decide the first 10 places on the grid. Teams have to nominate two riders each for a single flying lap and the slowest of the pair starts the race.

The surprising Kazuki Watanabe established a new EWC track record by bettering Takuya Tsuda’s 2m6.703s set in 2014’s ‘super-pole’ session. His effort of 2m6.656s put the N°87 Kawasaki firmly on provisional pole.

Yamaha Factory Racing Team (Espargaro/Smith/Nakasuga) was second best with a 2m6.877s (Nakasuga), but Pol Espargaro fell in the second session. He escaped unhurt but the N°21 Yamaha sustained severe damage.

Team Kagayama (Kagayama/Kiyonari/Haga), Musashi Harc-Pro Racing Team (Stoner/Takahashi/Van Der Mark), YOSHIMURA SUZUKI Shell ADVANCE (Waters/Lowes/Tsuda), MotoMap Supply, Eva RT Test Type 01 Trick Star, FCC TSR Honda (Hookes/Aegerter/Smith), Honda Dream RT Sakurai Honda and Toho Racing with MORIWAKI also earned a ticket for the Top 10 Trial.

The best-placed EWC-registered team was the race’s 2012 and 2013 pole-winner, YART (Parkes/Silva/Morais). Broc Parkes’ lap of 2m8.973 was the sixth-fastest in Group A, spelling the end of his team’s qualifying bid, even though the Australian would have come fourth in Group B!

Despite the dry conditions, there were several falls. Main victims were Casey Stoner’s factory Honda team-mate Takumi Takahashi, SRC Kawasaki’s Grégory Leblanc and Matthieu Lagrive, Bastien Mackels (BMW Motorrad France Penz13.com), Anthony Delhalle (SERT) and Freddy Foray (Honda Racing Team).

Saturday’s Top 10 Trial will start at 3:30pm local time (GMT+7).