Maassen gives Mad-Croc Spa pole
Dutchman Xavier Maassen claimed his first sportscar pole position in qualifying for round five of the FIA GT1 World Championship at Spa
Maassen was second fastest aboard the DKR-run Mad-Croc Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R in the first qualifying segment, his new team-mate Jos Menten filled the same position in Qualifying Two and then Maassen topped the timesheets in Q3. His time of 2m17.605s was a couple of tenths quicker than fellow countryman Nicky Pastorelli in the best of the All-Inkl.com Lamborghini Murcielago R-SVs.
Maassen said: "It's about time; this is such a relief after we've been knocking on the door all season. It's great to come to what is my home track and finally nail the pole. The team has a lot of knowledge here and so do the drivers, and we were able to put it all together."
Ricardo Zonta qualified third in the fastest of the Reiter Engineering Lambos. He was just a couple of tenths behind the similar All-Inkl car and a similar time ahead of Bert Longin in the Vitaphone-run Hegersport Maserati MC12.
Championship leader Andrea Bertolini, whose Vitaphone Maserati is carrying 40kg of success ballast, was unable to make it through the first round of qualifying. That means team-mate Michael Bartels will start this afternoon's Qualifying Race from 21st on the grid.
Pos Drivers Car Time Session 1. Maassen/Menten Corvette 2m17.605s Q3 2. Pastorelli/Schwager Lamborghini 2m17.812s Q3 3. Zonta/Kechele Lamborghini 2m18.082s Q3 4. Longin/Verdonck Maserati 2m18.322s Q3 5. Hezemans/Hennerici Corvette 2m18.373s Q3 6. Martin/Leinders Ford 2m18.471s Q3 7. Hirschi/Piccione Aston Martin 2m19.062s Q3 8. Nygaard/Mucke Aston Martin 2m19.755s Q3 9. Kox/Haase Lamborghini 2m19.626s Q2 10. Bernoldi/Ramos Maserati 2m19.630s Q2 11. Grosjean/Jani Ford 2m19.762s Q2 12. Makowiecki/Accary Aston Martin 2m19.883s Q2 13. Westbrook/Mutsch Ford 2m20.048s Q2 14. Piccini/Kumpen Corvette 2m21.387s Q2 15. Ara/Nilsson Nissan 2m21.575s Q2 16. Gavin/Kuismanen Corvette 2m22.808s Q2 17. Basseng/Bouchut Lamborghini 2m19.663s Q1 18. Enge/Turner Aston Martin 2m19.680s Q1 19. Krumm/Dumbreck Nissan 2m19.720s Q1 20. Hughes/Campbell-Walter Nissan 2m19.745s Q1 21. Bertolini/Bartels Maserati 2m19.753s Q1 22. Wendlinger/Moser Nissan 2m20.170s Q1 23. Palttala/Kuppens Ford 2m20.490s Q1 24. Heger/Muller Maserati 2m20.939s Q1
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