The no85 R-ace GP Duqueine took pole position in red flag interrupted LMP3 session. Fabien Michal posted a 1m36.344 lap early in the session to start the Barcelona Round of the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup at the head of the 36-car field.
The LMP3 session was red flagged after just 5 minutes when the no17 IDEC Sport Ligier of Patrice Lafargue went off into the gravel at T5 and was unable to rejoin unaided. Michal’s lap was over two seconds faster than the rest of the field, so the no85 Duqueine stayed in the pitlane while the rest rejoined when the green flag was waved with just under 10 minutes of the 15-minute session remaining.
The times started to tumble as the clock counted down to zero with Jens Reno Moller making a bid for pole position in the no20 High Class Racing Ligier, the Dane’s best lap being a 1m36.564, 0.220s behind the pole time.Jamie Falvey also made a bid for the front row in the no44 Team Virage Ligier, the British driver finishing the session in second place with a 1m36.533, 0.189s off the pole time.
Fabien Michal rejoined the session with 3 minutes on the clock but didn’t an extra push wasn’t needed as his earlier pole time was good enough to start from the front of the field.
Oscar Bittar put the no59 Team Virage Ligier on row two alongside the no20 High Class Racing Ligier, with the no87 COOL Racing and no11 CD Sport Ligiers on row 3 for this afternoon’s race.
American Matthew Kurzejewski took the first pole position of the 2024 season with a last gasp flying lap in the no51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, posting a 1m41.856 to deny his teammate Custodio Toledo in the no88 AF Corse Ferrari the single championship point by 0.066s.
Celia Martin will head the second row of the GT3 grid in the no85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan, the French driver posting a 1m42.366, 0.510s behind the pole sitting Ferrari and 0.260s ahead of the 4th fastest no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Andrew Gilbert.
The 7 car grid was completed by the no24 Steller Motorsport Audi, the no12 Kessel Racing Ferrari and the no18 High Class Racing Porsche.
The no23 Biogas Motorsport Ferrari didn’t take part in qualifying after suffering an engine failure in Free Practice 2 on Friday and the Spanish team have withdrawn from the race.
Round 1 of the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup will start at 17h50 this afternoon. The race can be viewed live on the MLMC website.
CLICK HERE for the result from Qualifying for Round 1 in Barcelona
