FIA GT – Sparkling Rast on the streets of Baku!

At the end of a qualifying session of only 40 minutes, the Audi n°12 of the Belgian Club WRT driven by René Rast was sensational. Author of the best time in 1:42.551 during Q2 contested at nightfall, the German was more than five tenths faster than the Audi of Winkelhock/Ide (1:43.062). Rast will therefore start in pole position for the qualifying race with his teammate the Austrian Mayr-Melnhof, who can be crowned at the end of the two races of this Baku World Challenge.

Third position on the race grid will be occupied by the No. 11 Audi of championship leaders Vanthoor/Ortelli (1:43.615) ahead of Sims/Dusseldorp (1:43.825) and Parisy/Zuber (1:43.855). Sébastien's second car Loeb Racing (Loeb/Parente) will start in seventh place behind the #4 BMW of VDS Racing (Martin/Catsburg). Great performance from their Belgian compatriots Vandoorne/Vervisch, eighth, ahead of the McLaren du Hexis Racing (Estre/Bell) et la Porsche Trackspeed n°41 du duo Tandy/Holzer.

La Mercedes HTP Gravity Charouz n°2 of Afanasiev/Simonsen takes pole position in Pro-Am (1:45.207) while the Ferrari n°50 of Leo/Sdanewitsch will start first in the Gentleman category (1:45.156).

The one-hour qualifying race will begin at 09:15 a.m. local time. As usual, the order of finish for this round will determine the starting grid for the main race and the drivers will have to exchange seats around halfway through the race.

Q1 results:

1? Mr. Winkelhock/E.Ide Audi R8 LMS (Team Phoenix) 1m43.062s
2? S.Dusseldorp/A.Sims McLaren MP4-12C (Boutsen Ginion Racing) 1m43.825s
3? S.Vandorne/F. Vervisch McLaren MP4-12C (Boutsen Ginion Racing) 1m44.229s
4? N.Tandy/M.Holzer Porsche 997 GT3 R (Trackspeed) 1m44.402s
5? R.Bell/K.Estre McLaren MP4-12C (Hexis Racing) 1m44.968s
6? S.Ortelli/L.Vanthoor Audi R8 LMS (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) 1m45.046s
7? Mr.Ragginger/D.Watts Porsche 997 GT3 R (Trackspeed) 1m45.297s
8? N.Catsburg/M.Martin BMW E89 Z4 (Marc VDS Racing) 1m45.513s
9? A.Parent/S.Loeb McLaren MP4-12C (Sebastien Loeb Racing) 1m45.662s
10? C.Campanico/M.Ammermuller Audi R8 LMS (Novadriver) 1m46.280s (1st Pro-Am)

Q2 results:

1? N.Mayr-Melnhof/R.Rast Audi R8 LMS (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) 1m42.551s
2? S.Ortelli/L.Vanthoor Audi R8 LMS (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) 1m43.615s
3? M.Parisy/A.Zuber McLaren MP4-12C (Sebastien Loeb Racing) 1m43.855s
4? N.Catsburg/Mr. Martin BMW E89 Z4 (Marc VDS Racing) 1m43.908s
5? A.Sims/S.Dusseldorp McLaren MP4-12C (Boutsen Ginion Racing) 1m43.944s
6? S. Loeb/A.Parente McLaren MP4-12C (Sebastien Loeb Racing) 1m44.123s
7? S. Vandoorne/F.Vervisch McLaren MP4-12C (Boutsen Ginion Racing) 1m44.216s
8? R.Bell/K.Estre McLaren MP4-12C (Hexis Racing) 1m44.243s
9? S.Jimenez/R.Zonta BMW E89 Z4 (BMW Sports Trophy Brasil) 1m44.509s
10? E.Sandström/F.Stippler Audi R8 LMS (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) 1m44.663s

Final starting grid:

1? N.Mayr-Melnhof/R.Rast Audi R8 LMS (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) 1m42.551s
2? Mr. Winkelhock/E.Ide Audi R8 LMS (Team Phoenix) 1m43.062s
2? S.Ortelli/L.Vanthoor Audi R8 LMS (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) 1m43.615s
3? S.Dusseldorp/A.Sims McLaren MP4-12C (Boutsen Ginion Racing) 1m43.825s
4? M.Parisy/A.Zuber McLaren MP4-12C (Sebastien Loeb Racing) 1m43.855s
5? N.Catsburg/Mr. Martin BMW E89 Z4 (Marc VDS Racing) 1m43.908s
6? S. Loeb/A.Parente McLaren MP4-12C (Sebastien Loeb Racing) 1m44.123s
7? S. Vandoorne/F.Vervisch McLaren MP4-12C (Boutsen Ginion Racing) 1m44.216s
8? R.Bell/K.Estre McLaren MP4-12C (Hexis Racing) 1m44.243s
9? N.Tandy/M.Holzer Porsche 997 GT3 R (Trackspeed) 1m44.402s
10? S.Jimenez/R.Zonta BMW E89 Z4 (BMW Brasil) 1m44.509s
?
17? E.Sandström/F.Stippler Audi R8 LMS (Belgian Audi Club Team WRT) 1m44.663s + 5 places