Boutsen VDS takes pole for the Portimão finale by a tenth
Schuring, Boccolacci and Picariello average 1:42.071 in the #2 Porsche, while Verstappen is the fastest of the #3 crew and starts 15th
Updated 20:12 CEST, 7 minutes after qualifying.
Boutsen VDS will start the GT World Challenge Europe season finale at Portimão from pole position. Morris Schuring, Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Picariello averaged a 1:42.071 across their three qualifying sessions in the #2 Porsche, 0.108 seconds faster than the #17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed car. The #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche completes the top three.
The grid is set by the average of the three drivers’ best times, one from each of Q1, Q2 and Q3. How GT World Challenge qualifying works.
Top 10 and the #3 car
| Pos. | No. | Team | Drivers | Car | Class | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #2 | Boutsen VDS | Morris Schuring, Dorian Boccolacci, Alessio Picariello | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) EVO | Pro | 1:42.071 | – |
| 2 | #17 | Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed | Ralf Aron, Maximilian Götz, Fabian Schiller | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | Pro | 1:42.179 | +0.108 |
| 3 | #80 | Lionspeed GP | Ricardo Feller, Thomas Preining, Bastian Buus | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) EVO | Pro | 1:42.250 | +0.179 |
| 4 | #64 | HRT Ford Racing | Arjun Maini, Fabio Scherer, Thomas Drouet | Ford Mustang GT3 EVO | Pro | 1:42.252 | +0.181 |
| 5 | #50 | AF Corse | Lilou Wadoux, Arthur Leclerc, Albert Costa | Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO | Pro | 1:42.279 | +0.208 |
| 6 | #48 | Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER | Lucas Auer, Luca Stolz, Maro Engel | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | Pro | 1:42.283 | +0.212 |
| 7 | #59 | Garage 59 | Joseph Loake, Dean Macdonald, Jack Hawksworth | McLaren 720S GT3 EVO | Pro | 1:42.302 | +0.231 |
| 8 | #71 | Selected Car Racing | Frederik Schandorff, Malte Ebdrup, Simon Birch | Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO | Gold | 1:42.335 | +0.264 |
| 9 | #7 | Comtoyou Racing | Mattia Drudi, Nicki Thiim, Ross Gunn | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO | Pro | 1:42.352 | +0.281 |
| 10 | #51 | AF Corse | Tommaso Mosca, Lorenzo Ferrari, Nicola Lacorte | Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO | Pro | 1:42.479 | +0.408 |
| 15 | #3 | Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing | Max Verstappen, Ben Barnicoat, Chris Lulham | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | Pro | 1:42.624 | +0.553 |
Provisional combined classification from the SRO noticeboard, checked against the official live timing. Time is the average of the three drivers. The #222 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG had its lap times cancelled by the stewards and is classified last.
Boutsen VDS was quickest in two of the three sessions
The #2 Porsche was the reference all evening. Schuring topped Q1 with a 1:42.445, and Boccolacci set the first lap of the weekend under 1:42 in Q2 with a 1:41.856. Picariello’s 1:41.912 in Q3 was enough to secure pole. The top ten are covered by 0.408 seconds, and the HRT Ford in fourth is only 0.002 seconds off a top-three start.
The #71 Selected Car Racing Ferrari is the fastest Gold Cup car in eighth, and Simon Birch set the fastest single lap of qualifying in Q3 with a 1:41.652. The #65 HRT Ford leads the Silver Cup in 13th. In the Bronze Cup, the only title still open, the #991 Paradine Competition BMW of title contender Darren Leung is the best qualified car in 23rd. His rivals start close behind: Marvin Dienst in the #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG in 27th and Dennis Marschall in the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari in 28th. Read our Bronze Cup title preview. All starters and their line-ups are in our Portimão entry list, and both practice sessions are in our practice report.
Verstappen quickest of his crew on his series debut
The #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing car starts 15th with an average of 1:42.624, 0.553 seconds off pole. Ben Barnicoat set a 1:43.124 in Q1 and Chris Lulham a 1:42.655 in Q2. Max Verstappen, on his first GT World Challenge weekend, went 1:42.093 in Q3: 1.031 seconds faster than Barnicoat and 0.562 seconds faster than Lulham. With an average-based grid, the slower sessions cost the car its place in the top ten. How the three-hour race and the stops work is explained in our Portimão race guide.
Qualifying ran without major incidents. Race Control cancelled several laps for track limits, including at turns 1, 4, 7 and 14.
The race starts at 17:00 local, 18:00 CEST and 12:00 ET
The three-hour season finale starts on Saturday 17 October. Follow it in our live blog.
Source: SRO noticeboard, provisional combined qualifying classification, and the official live timing (Swiss Timing); line-ups from our entry list.
Can Boutsen VDS convert pole into the win, or will the three hours shake up the order? Tell us in the comments.
The RNT Weekly newsletter
Race weekend times, results and our best stories in your inbox. Free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
