Written by: The Paddock Staff
Date: July 24, 2009

The rain fell on Spa-Francorchamps for qualifying, and most of the three qualifying sessions took place either in the rain, or on a wet track. Only the first fifteen minutes were dry, and those few laps set the grid for Saturday’s Total 24 Hours of Spa. Alex Müller claimed pole position in the No. 2 Vitaphone Maserati MC 12, his second pole in a row after Oschersleben.

He led a Vitaphone Maserati MC 12 one-two-three, with Alessandro Pierguidi putting the No. 33 Vitaphone Racing Team DHL car second on the grid, while Andrea Bertolini placed the No. 1 Vitaphone Racing Team car in third. Fourth was the No. 8 Sangari Corvette Z06, with the No. 3 SRT Corvette fifth, and the leading 2010-generation car, the No. 40 Marc VDS Racing Ford GT, a fine 6th for Bas Leinders.

In GT2, Gianmaria Bruni took pole in the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari 430 GT2, in 9th position on the starting grid. This is Bruni’s seventh FIA GT pole, and his second at Spa after 2007. He qualified ahead of the No. 55 CRS Racing Ferrari 430 GT2, Tim Mullen setting the time. The No. 59 Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 RSR was the best of the Porsches in third, with Jörg Bergmeister at the wheel.

The best time in G2 was set by Phoenix Racing and their Audi R8 LMS, Marcel Fässler at the wheel, placing the car 17th. Matech GT Racing led G3, with Thomas Mutsch setting the best time in the Ford GT3, qualifying 11th overall.

QUALIFYING ONE

The first qualifying session of the weekend got abruptly cut down to size when 15 minutes in, the skies opened and virtually flooded the track. The rain carried on throughout the session and the cars remained in the pits where they had taken refuge, except for Darren Turner in the No. 35 Nissan Motorsports Nissan GT-R who came out in the last 5 minutes of the session for a couple of laps, but his time and position did not change.


The start of the session was an energetic one though, with the positions changing rapidly. When the rain struck, the No. 2 Vitaphone Maserati MC12 was fastest with a lap of 2:18.030. The No. 33 Vitaphone Racing Team DHL Maserati MC12 was second fastest with a best time of 2:18.591. The third Vitaphone Maserati set the third best time of 2:19.222. Vitaphone are really showing off a strong line up so far this weekend.


In GT2 the No. 50 AF Corse Ferarri F430 was quickest with a best time of 2:25.232. The No. 55 CRS Racing Ferrari F430 was second fastest with a time of 2:26.349, closely followed by the No. 59 Trackspeed Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) which set a best lap of 2:26.471. 
The best G2 time was set by the No. 111 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS, with a time of 2:28.327.


The best G3 time was 2:26.364 by the No. 121 Matech GT Racing Ford GT.

QUALIFYING TWO

Night had fallen when the second qualifying session, 45-minutes long, got underway. The track was still extremely wet, with reports of water across the track in a number of areas. The times remained extremely slow during the session, on average around 30 seconds slower than those set at the start of qualifying, before the heavens opened.


The best time was set by the No. 4 PK Carsport Corvette Z06, with Kumpen at the wheel. The No. 2 Maserati was second, ahead of the No. 40 Marc VDS Racing Ford GT. The fastest car in GT2 was the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari, ahead of the No. 77 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari, with the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari third. The No. 118 Gravity Racing Mosler was fastest in G2, eighth fastest and ahead of all the GT2 cars, while the No. 123 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche was fastest in G3.

The only improvements in the session were from the No. 175 MP Racing BMW Alpina B6 GT3 and three of the cars which failed to go out in the first session, the No. 161 Prospeed Porsche 997 Cup S, the No. 78 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 430 GT2 and the No. 95 Pecom Racing Ferrari 430 GT2. The No. 8 Sangari Corvette had a spin towards the end of the session and rejoined – this was the only incident during the session. By the end of the 45 minutes, conditions were improving slightly, with less spray coming off the cars. With little time before they were due to resume, however, there was little chance of a truly dry track. Two cars had yet to go out, the No. 115 and No. 117 PMB Porsche cars in the G2 category.

QUALIFYING THREE

The rain started again approximately twenty minutes into the session, growing steadily heavier. Full course yellows were shown. Times were even slower than in second qualifying, with fewer cars going out. The best time was set by the No. 3 SRT Corvette of Longin, Ruffier, Soulet and Gavin, ahead of the No. 4 PK Carsport Corvette of Hezemans, Kumpen, Menten and Mollekens.

The No. 77 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 430 GT2 was both the third-fastest car on the track and the best GT2 car, followed by the No. 97 Brixia Porsche 997 GT3 RSR. The No. 118 Gravity Racing International Mosler MT900 of Radermecker, Tung, de Sordi and Villeneuve was fifth-fastest, and the leading G2 car, with the leading G3 car being the No. 122 Matech GT Racing Ford GT of the all-Brazilian crew of Mattheis, Negrao, Oliveira Jr and Lunardi. Only 24 cars set a time.