Spa 24: Gotz leads Mercedes Superpole whitewash

Gotz, who was fastest in yesterday’s first qualifying session and second fastest in the combined times, made the most of the conditions at the end of the Superpole shootout, storming to pole with a 2m12.651s, more than three tenths clear of the field.

His cause was then helped when Shane van Gisbergen’s McLaren came to a halt on the Kiwi’s first flying lap, ending any chance that the provisional polesitter would snatch the top spot right at the end.

“I’m really happy to be on pole here,” said Gotz. “I’m really satisfied. It’s just a good position for the race. The race is a different thing, but it’s just nice to be on top.”

In what was a Mercedes Top 6, Clemens Schmid made it a HTP 1-2 with a lap that moved up him six spots compared to the regular qualifying sessions yesterday.

He was followed by Felix Rosenqvist in the #88 AKKA ASP Mercedes, Maro Engel in the #00 Team Black Mercedes, Maximilian Buhk in the #84 HTP Mercedes, and Dani Juncadella in the #56 Black Falcon Mercedes – which was also the best-placed Pro-Am entry.

The best-placed non-Mercedes entry wound up being the #28 Team WRT Audi with Laurens Vanthoor behind the wheel, the Belgian nearly nine-tenths down on Gotz’s pole time.

Top 20 Starting Grid

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