Sarah Bovy secured her first pole position of the year in the #85 Iron Dames for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the third round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship.
The Belgian charged to the top spot in qualifying in the immensely competitive LMGT3 category with strong form in both the initial 12-minute and the 10-minute Hyperpole qualifying sessions.
Track limits are one of the most prominent talking points concerning Spa and the Bronze-rated drivers – who carry out qualifying in the category – were keen to test the limits with some initial laps being deleted.
Furthermore, tyre degradation meant that one or two consecutive flying laps could be done which marginalised the room for mistakes such as track limits violations.
Sarah Bovy showcased the capable outright pace of the #85 Iron Dames from the start of the session, having claimed three pole positions last year.
She commanded her Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 EVO2, meanwhile the attention was on P10 as those below would have their grid positions finalised.
Proton Competition’s #88 Ford Mustang driven by Giorgio Roda who went wide on the gravel and so Ian James ended up knocking the #88 out in P4, with the sibling #77 car of Ryan Hardwick behind in P12.
Arnold Robin, one of the the drivers in the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F, put his car into Hyperpole for the first time with this season marking the team’s WEC, and the first appearance for the Lexus RC F in 10th.
During the opening phase of the 12-minute Hyperpole session, Alex Malykhin had a dramatic crash on his first flying lap in the #92 Manthey Porsche 911 LMGT3.R.
He lost the rear end of the car at the top of Radillion, prompting a prolonged spin which ended up with the rear hitting into the tyre barrier and raising .
This incident prompted a red flag with 7-minutes and 27-seconds left on the clock to clean up the resulting debris and the wrecked Porsche, as Malaykhin emerged from the car on his own strength and was released from the medical centre.
Green flag conditions returned, though dramas continued when the #78 Lexus of Robin was stranded in the pitlane due to electronic issues, and returned to their pit box to fit a new battery to turn the engine; they did not continue any further.
United Autosports were the only team with two cars [McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs] in the top-10, with Joshua Caygill in the #95 showing more promise in comparison to his #59 teammate James Cottingham.
Bovy took pole with a 2:20.755 in her #85 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, followed by Caygill in second at 0.377 away.
Ahmed al Harthy put the #46 WRT BMW M4 closely behind the McLaren, a 2:21.138 lap time.
Fourth position was taken by Yasser Shahin in the #92 Manthey EMA Porsche with a 2:21.285, as Cottingham rounded off the top-five in the #59 with a 2:21.293.
This marked United Autosports’ best qualifying performance since the beginning of the 2024 season with their McLaren LMGT3 programme.
Editor’s Note:
Following post-qualifying scrutineering, the #95 McLaren 720S was found unintentionally non-compliant with the weight regulations.
A statement included United Autosports’ reaction: “We accept the findings of the FIA and the ACO, and we will investigate fully.”
This puts the #95 at the back of the grid, as Ahmad Al Harthy is promoted to P2 and the rest of the field moves up one position.
