The two Spa Heat qualifying sessions were held this afternoon at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit. RLR MSport and Ian Aguilera claimed their first pole position of the season in the first session, while Team Virage and Jeronimo Berrio took pole position for Race 2. M Racing’s #53 JS2 R and Tomas Granzella secured the pole for both races.
While the first qualifying session went off without incident, the second was cut short by a red flag four minutes from the end after André Vieira (#44 ASM Motorsport) went off the circuit at the top of Eau Rouge. The Portuguese driver escaped uninjured.
JS P4: RLR MSport scores its first pole position – Team Virage on pole for race 2.
Ian Aguilera and RLR MSport secured their first pole position of the season in the opening qualifying session. After a hard-fought 15 minutes with Pedro Moreno in the #66 of Team Virage and Haydn Chance in the #1 sister car, Ian Aguilera’s lap of 2m21.749s in the #77 JS P4 (RLR M Sport) was the fastest of the session. Haydn Chance, in the #1 from Team Virage, finished second (2m22.249s), followed by Romain Favre and the #7 Inter Europol Competition JS P4 (2m22.256s).
In the second session, the battle raged between Team Virage’s #1 and #66. In the end, it was the #66, driven by Jeronimo Berrio, that got the nod with a lap of 2m20.391s, his second pole position of the season and the third for the #66 crew. The #1 sister car, driven by Theo Micouris, was second (2m20.819s), followed by Ian Aguilera in the #77 RLR of M Sport (2m20.977s).
In the AM category, Jeremy Ferguson in the #27 P4 JS of P4 Racing will start both races from the pole (2m26.831s and 2m26.023s).
Ian Aguilera, RLR MSport, #77 JS P4, Pole position, Race 1:
“This is my second pole position in the series. It feels really good. We’ve put a lot of work this year. We haven’t got the results we wanted. So finally getting pole, I’m really happy with it. Team worked really hard on the set up. I’m really grateful for that and looking forward to seeing what we can do in the races.”
Jeronimo Berrio, Team Virage, #66 JS P4, Pole position, Race 2:
“This is my second pole position this season, after the Barcelona Heat. It feels really special. After the summer break and the win in Le Mans, which also was really special, coming to one of my favorite tracks in the world, Spa-Francorchamps, and taking pole, it’s a dream come true.”
JS2 R: A brace of pole positions for M Racing and Tomas Granzella
After dominating the two-morning free practice sessions, Tomas Granzella topped both qualifying sessions in the #53 M Racing JS2 R. His lap of 2m30.432s, followed by a second of 2m31.500s, secured him the double pole positions of the Spa Heat in JS2 R. These are the Uruguayan driver’s first two pole positions in the Ligier European Series.
Marta Garcia set the second fastest times in both sessions in the Iron Dames by M Racing #85 JS2 R (2m31.541s and 2m31.712s). Clément Moreno, in the #31 from ANS Motorsport, finished third in both sessions and first in the AM class (2m31.867s and 2m32.512s).
In the PRO-AM class, Julien Schell and David Caussanel in the #29 of Pegasus Racing were fastest in Q1 and Q2 (2:m32.048s and 2m33.972s).
Tomas Granzella, M Racing, #53 JS2 R, Pole position, Race 1 & 2:
“It feels so good to clinch my first pole position in the series. It’s my first time here in Spa. It’s a track that is really different from all the other tracks I’ve visited. So I’m really happy to take the pole position. M Racing did an excellent job. They gave me a car with an incredible performance so this is also thanks to them.
In Q2, we knew that we were fast as we had just clinched pole position for race 1. So my aim was to stay on the track and to be as fast as possible, while managing the tyres. Mission accomplished. I’m really glad!”
Race 1 will start tomorrow at 9:05 in the morning and run for one hour. Race 2 will run from 12:50 to 1:50 in the afternoon. Both races will be streamed live on our YouTube channel.
CLICK HERE for the qualifying 1 results.
CLICK HERE for the qualifying 2 results.
