Newcomers Mičánek Motorsport powered by Buggyra shared pole position spoils with LP Racing after two thrilling GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli Qualifying contests at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Debutant Bronek Formanek kicked off his GT2 Europe venture in the best manner possible by topping Q1 in the #11 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 GT2, before a rampant Eddie Cheever put his #8 Maserati GT2 at the head of the leaderboard in an intense second session.
Formanek paces Q1 for debut pole position
The first of two 20-minute outings in France proved to be a three-way battle for bragging rights, decided when Czech driver Formanek pumped in a 2:05.445s effort late on to confirm his and Mičánek Motorsport’s first pole in their maiden Qualifying.
Formanek and Stefan Rosina’s Pro-Am Lamborghini finished 0.331s clear of its nearest competitor, which proved to be Philippe Prette in the #1 LP Racing Maserati despite a gearbox issue curtailing the defending Am champion’s session early, and putting him out of Q2.
The Italian was still rapid enough to stay fastest of the Am class runners, the defending champion getting the better of category rival Alberto De Martin who ran him just 0.031s shy in the #115 NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT2.
Thomas Andersen put the #80 Razoon - more than racing KTM X-BOW GT2 in fourth, sharing with Simon Birch, followed up by the similar Pro-Am KTM of RTR Projects and its driver, Laura Kraihamer - teamed with Mato Homola in the #89. The latter’s team-mates Ondrej Rokos and Petr Lisa were sixth, trailed by another Mercedes, that in the hands of Christophe Bourret and Pascal Gibon (#53 Akkodis ASP).
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Cheever edges Q2 thriller for LP Racing
Q2 proved to be a mightily close affair, and it was only when Italian Cheever found his groove in the final minutes that the LP Racing man was able to seal pole position with an ultimate best effort of 2:03.825s.
It was the decisive lap that ensured he and his Maserati partner Anik Patel start from the front for race two, pipping a charging Rosina by a mere 0.189s despite the Slovakian racer’s best attempts to usurp Cheever in the dying moments.
Birch ensured an all Pro-Am top three in Q2, but this time fourth place was enough for Nil Montserrat to earn NM Racing Team the Am class pole, akin to a strong showing from the Spaniard.
DINAMIC Motorsport’s Mauro Calamia - sharing the #7 Maserati with Roberto Pampanini - had topped much of the session, but slipped to fifth spot ahead of the respective RTR Projects entries piloted by Homola and Lisa. Gibon meanwhile placed Akkodis ASP eighth, with just under two seconds covering the top eight competitors.
Attention now turns to the opening two rounds of the new GT2 Europe campaign, as two 60-minute contests kick off at 9:00 and 14:55 CEST respectively. Follow the action live on GT World YouTube.