Pole for Mercedes as trouble strikes SVG
Gotz lead Mercedes’ domination of Superpole
Mercedes swept to the top six places on the grid for the 24 Hours of Spa after a technical fault denied Shane van Gisbergen a shot at pole.
Van Gisbergen’s McLaren had been the last of the 20 cars on track in the Superpole session after the Kiwi’s stunning performance in Thursday night qualifying.
The #58 650S slowed with an unknown issue partway through its first of two laps, eventually stopping on the exit of Stavelot.
Amid Van Gisbergen’s drama, yesterday’s second fastest man Maximilian Gotz shot to pole position in 2:17.65s aboard HTP’s #86 Mercedes.
The time proved almost 0.4s quicker than previous pace-setter and HTP team-mate Clemens Schmid.
“I nearly lost the car on the first lap in Eau Rouge,” admitted Gotz after the session.
“I was a bit frightened that the tyres weren’t ready, but then I put it together on the second lap.
“I’m really happy to be on pole here because there are a lot of good drivers here.
“It’s a good position for the race. That will be a different thing, but it’s nice to be on top.”
Felix Rosenqvist put the #88 Team AKKA Mercedes third ahead of Maro Engel (#00 Black Falcon Mercedes) and Maximilian Buhk (#84 HTP Mercedes).
The Mercedes domination was completed by Dani Juncadella (#56 Black Falcon Mercedes) in the leading Pro-Am entry.
Laurens Vanthoor proved the best of the rest in the #28 WRT Audi, almost a second adrift of pole position.
The #74 ISR Audi, #16 GRT Grasser Lamborghini and #8 Team M-Sport Bentley completed the top 10.
A 20 minute warm-up session will take place from 0905 local time on Saturday ahead of the race start at 1630.
VIDEO: Superpole highlights
Superpole result
| Pos | # | Team/Car | Drivers |
| 1 | 86 | Team HTP Mercedes | Maximilian Gotz, Gary Paffett, Thomas Jager |
| 2 | 85 | Team HTP Mercedes | Indy Dontje, Clemens Schmid, Luciano Bacheta |
| 3 | 88 | AKKA ASP Mercedes | Felix Rosenqvist, Tristan Vautier, Renger van der Zande |
| 4 | 00 | Black Falcon Mercedes | Maro Engel, Yelmer Buurman, Bernd Schneider |
| 5 | 84 | Team HTP Mercedes | Maximilian Buhk, Jazeman Jaafar, Dominik Baumann |
| 6 | 56 | Black Falcon Mercedes | Dani Juncadella, Oliver Morley, Miguel Toril, Abdulaziz Al Faisal |
| 7 | 28 | Team WRT Audi | Laurens Vanthoor, Rene Rast, Nico Muller |
| 8 | 74 | ISR Audi | Franck Perera, Nicolas Lapierre, Henry Hassid, Philippe Giauque |
| 9 | 16 | GRT Grasser Lamborghini | Mirko Bortolotti, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Rolf Ineichen |
| 10 | 8 | Bentley Team M-Sport | Maxime Soulte, Andy Soucek, Wolfgang Reip |
| 11 | 50 | AF Corse Ferrari | Palin Lathouras, Michele Rugolo, Alessandro Pier Guidi |
| 12 | 26 | Sainteloc Racing Audi | Christoper Haase, Mike Parisy, Gregory Guilvert |
| 13 | 2 | Team WRT Audi | Stuart Leonard, Robin Frijns, Michael Meadows |
| 14 | 6 | Team Phoenix Audi | Christopher Mies, Frank Stippler, Markus Winkelhock |
| 15 | 98 | Rowe Racing BMW | Nick Catsburg, Stef Dusseldorp, Dirk Werner |
| 16 | 24 | Team Parker Bentley | Ian Loggie, Tom Onslow-Cole, Callum Macleod, Andy Meyrick |
| 17 | 666 | Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini | Jon Minshaw, Phil Keen, Oliver Gavin, Joe Osborne |
| 18 | 7 | Bentley Team M-Sport | Guy Smith, Vincent Abril, Steven Kane |
| 19 | 99 | Rowe Racing BMW | Alexander Sims, Philipp Eng, Maxime Martin |
| 20 | 58 | Garage 59 McLaren | Shane van Gisbergen, Come Ledogar, Rob Bell |
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