Marvin Kirchhöfer claimed McLaren’s maiden pole position at the 24 Hours of Spa, topping Friday afternoon’s Superpole session in the #59 Garage 59 McLaren GT3 Evo.
Kirchhöfer was the final driver onto the circuit and the German set a 2:15.113 on his first flying lap, a full four tenths quicker than his nearest rival, Juels Gounon in the #17 Mercedes AMG GetSpeed car.
None of the cars still on track threatened Kirchhöfer’s time, meaning the McLaren driver had already secured pole position for the car he shares with Benjamin Goethe and Joseph Loake by the time he completed his second (and slower) flying lap.
“It was probably one of the best laps I’ve had. You really embrace the moment with the track to yourself, and I think I absolutely nailed it. It’s hard to get the perfect lap, but I think we achieved it as a team, and I am over the moon right now,” a jubilant Kirchhöfer said after the session.
“We’ve made huge steps forward since Paul Ricard, the guys are doing a good job and pushing to step up their game every weekend. We have a good car, but as you know, Spa is an unknown with the weather. Everyone is biting their nails, looking at the conditions. We will try to keep it clean and see where we end up.”
Gounon held on to second for the #17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed AMG GT3 Evo, ahead of Dries Vanthoor in the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Vanthoor, however, is under investigation for a potential breach of Superpole procedure, potentially leaving ahead of his allocated time slot.
Fourth went to Maxime Martin in the #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG, the car having spent the majority of the session at the topping the times. Martin was the third of the 20 drivers to take to the track in Superpole, and it wasn’t until Gounon, running 17th, that his leading time was surpassed.
2024 pole sitter Franck Perera managed seventh this time around, in the #163 VSR Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, ahead of last years race winning driver Mattia Drudi in the #007 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo in eighth.
Gold Cup pole position went to Joel Sturm in the #92 Herberth Motorsport Porsche, with a 2:16.127 putting him ninth overall. The other Gold Cup contender, the #33 Verstappen.com Racing Aston Martin of Harry King, qualified 13th.
The top 10 was rounded out by Antonio Fuoco in the #50 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari.
The session was interrupted by a single Red Flag at 14 minutes when Henrique Chaves, on his second push lap, ran wide on the exit of Campus putting two wheels into the gravel, the car then span across the circuit heavily impacting the tyre wall on the outside.
His #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin came to a rest in the middle of the circuit, having suffered heavy front-end damage. Aston Martin Racing has confirmed that Chaves is ‘okay’. It is not yet clear whether a rebuild of the car will be possible ahead of the race.
Positions 21-75 were decided during Thursday’s Qualifying sessions with Silver Cup pole going to the #42 Century Motorsport BMW, Bronze Cup honours to the defending class-winning #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi, and Pro-Am pole belonging to the #29 AV Racing by Car Collection Porsche.
The 2025 24 hours of Spa begins at 16:30 CEST on Saturday, 28th June. By Melissa Warren
