BARCELONA (13 September, 2024) – Optimum Motorsport has claimed overall pole position for this weekend’s 25th edition of the Hankook 24H BARCELONA, the first time the British team will lead the 24H SERIES field away in more than three years.

Having logged the third quickest time in Q1, the Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 EVO (#4, Todd Coleman / Aaron Telitz / Robert Megennis / Frederik Schandorf) went on to bank the fastest overall times in Q2 and Q3 to drop the British team’s aggregate time across all three, 15-minute sessions to 1m 42.506s, just under three-tenths clear of the Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II of fellow front row starter – and Hankook 12H MISANO winner – Saintéloc Junior Team (#18, Michael Doppelmayr / Pierre Kaffer / Elia Erhart / Stephane Tribaudini / Christer Jöns)

This marks the first time both Optimum Motorsport and a McLaren will start a 24H SERIES event from overall pole since the inaugural Hankook 6H ABU DHABI in 2021. 

“We’re really satisfied, and I’m also really happy with what Todd [Coleman] and Aaraon [Telitz] did,” Frederik Schandorf explained to radiolemans.com’s Diana Binks. “The team has done an amazing job all week to prepare the car, it’s really enjoyable to drive, and our strategy went really well. The guys only did very few laps to keep the tyres fresh, so that just made the whole of qualifying easier for us. 

“We were on pole position at Le Mans too. We didn’t win, so hopefully now we can win this one instead!”

Behind the top two, the returning Poulsen Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 (#14, Kristian Poulsen / Roland Poulsen / Alfred Nilsson / Jens Klingmann) fell just over a tenth of a second shy of the front row, and will start 3rd overall after a late charge in Q3.

Hofor Racing (#11, Michael Kroll / Chantal Prinz / Alexander Prinz / Maximilian Partl / Kenneth Heyer), the overall winner of the Hankook 24H BARCELONA in 2013, ended Q1 with the fastest provisional time. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 managed to hold on to secure 4th on the overall grid and GT3-AM class pole.

Three-time event winner Herberth Motorsport (#91, Scott Noble / Ralf Bohn / Jason Hart / Dustin Blattner) rounds out the overall top five in qualifying with its Porsche 992 GT3 R. The 2017 Overall GT Team’s ‘Continents’ champion will start 2nd in GT3-Am.

Red Camel-Jordans.nl (#9, Ivo Breukers / Luc Breukers / Rik Breukers / Fabian Danz) makes a rare GT3 appearance in Barcelona. As ‘Red Camel by Juta Racing,’ the Dutch team will start 6th overall (3rd in GT3-PRO/AM) with its Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II. 

Ironically, the standalone Juta Racing entry (#71, Arunas Geciauskas / Eimantas Navikauskas / Sigitas Ambrazevicius / Martin Ryba / Francois Beziac) was unable to participate in qualifying after a big accident in Free Practice. The Lithuanian team is working hard to get its Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II ready ahead of tomorrow’s race.

E2P Racing (#90, Pablo Burguera / Antonio Sainero / Alvaro Parente / Javier Morcillo) comes into its home event at the head of the GT3-PRO/AM Teams’ standings, and lines up 7th overall with its Porsche 991.2 GT3 R, one spot ahead of the RD Signs – Siauliai racing team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO (#69, Audrius Butkevicius / Nicola Michelon / Paulius Paskevicius / Ramunas Capkauskas / Paulius Ruskys). The Lithuanian team was the third fastest runner in GT3-AM.

The returning Land Motorsport (#34, Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff, Ingo Vogler / Tim Vogler / Wiggo Dalmo / Elmar Grimm), the GT3-AM class winner at last year’s Hankook 24H BARCELONA, lines up 9th with its Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II. ARC Bratislava (#44, Miro Konopka / Adam Konopka / Zdeno Mikulasko / Andrzej Lewandowski / Petr Brecka) rounds out the overall top 10 on the grid with its Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO.

992 Teams’ standings leader Red Ant Racing (#903, Ayrton Redant / Yannick Redant / Kobe de Breucker / Lars Zaenen) looked on course to secure a 1-2 in qualifying, though the Belgian team’s sister Porsche 992 GT3 Cup (#904, Brent Verheyen / Peter Guelinckx / Gavin Pickering / Jef Machiels) ultimately ended up slipping to 4th in a congested Q3. 992-AM class polesitter, and category standings leader, RPM Racing (#907, Tracy Krohn / Niclas Jönsson / Philip Hamprecht / Patrick Huisman) will instead start alongside the #903 Porsche after a late surge. 

Spain’s Road to Le Mans (#949, Agustin Sanabria Crespo / Pablo Bras Silvero / Fernando Gonzalez Gonzalez / Pedro Miguel Lourinho Bras / Francesc Gutierrez Agüi) impressed with a strong run to 3rd overall in 992 qualifying (2nd in 992-AM). 1998 and 2008 overall Hankook 24H BARCELONA winner Francesc Gutierrez enters his home event for the 25th consecutive time this weekend. 

Behind the second Red Ant Racing Porsche (#904), the QMMF by HRT Porsche 992 GT3 Cup (#931, Abdulla Ali Al Khelaifi / Ghanim Al Ali / Ibrahim Al Abdulghani / Julian Hanses) rounds out the 992 top five and the top three in 992-AM in only its second European outing with CREVENTIC. It’s first, last weekend’s Michelin 992 Endurance Cup powered by Porsche Motorsport, ended with an impressive AM class win.

Razoon – More Than Racing (#714, Artur Chwist / Christian Loimayr / Daniel Drexel / Simon Birch), the GTX class winner at last year’s Hankook 24H BARCELONA, will start comfortably on GTX pole. The Austrian team even set the 11th fastest aggregate time. 

GTX Teams’ champion-elect Vortex V8 (#701, Philippe Bonnel / Solenn Amrouche / Gilles Courtois / Lionel Amrouche) took a conservative approach to qualifying, and will thus start behind its sister #702 Vortex 2.0 (Lucas Sugliano / Cyril Calmon / Miguel Moiola / Pierre Fontaine)

GSR Motorsport (#405, Mindaugas Liatukas / Rokas Kvedaras / Aras Kvedaras / Dovydas Ketvirtis / Egidijus Gelūnas) has secured its second GT4 class pole position in the 24H SERIES after a strong run in qualifying for its Ginetta G56 GT4. 

The Lithuanian team set the fastest overall lap of the GT4/TCE session in Q2 (a 1m 51.304s, courtesy of Aras Kvedaras), and its aggregate qualifying time – 1m 51.992s – was half a second clear of the ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 (#428, Samantha Tan / Neil Verhagen / Jon Miller / Pippa Mann / Fabian Duffieux). That Canadian team will line-up 2nd in-class. 

ST Racing this weekend makes its first 24H SERIES start since the Hankook 24H BARCELONA in 2022, its first outing in GT4 since winning the Overall GT Teams’ championship in 2021, and will compete with Indy 500 favourite Pippa Mann. 

A final flying lap late in Q3 saw the Lionspeed GP Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport (#424, José Garcia / Daniel Miller / Patrick Kolb / Dennis Bohn) leapfrog the Venture Engineering Mercedes-AMG GT4 (#421, Neville Jones / Christopher Jones / Matthew George / Owen Hizzey) for 3rd on the GT4 grid. The British team nevertheless starts its maiden 24H SERIES event from 4th on the GT4 grid, despite suspected fuel pump issues during Free Practice. 

The NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4 (#415, Keith Gatehouse / Igor Sorokin / Guillermo Aso / Manel Lao Cornago / Maximilien Huber) will line up 5th in GT4. The Spanish team, overall winner of the event in 2017 and the GT4 class winner in 2018, is vying for its third win at its home event this weekend. 

Apex MP Racing (#414, Milos Pavlovic / Petar Matic / Alessio Ruffini / Mihael Ambroz), which runs the only KTM X-BOW GT4 this weekend, was the 6th fastest GT4 qualifier on aggregate. Ironically, the Slovenian team set the fastest lap of Q3. 

Team Africa Le Mans Ginetta G55 GT4 (#455, Emanuele Pirro / Jan Lammers / Greg Mills / Jeroen Bleekemolen / Cristoforo Pirro) props up the GT4 field on its first start in the 24H SERIES since 2017. Five-time overall 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro and three-time Hankook 24H DUBAI winner Jeroen Bleekemolen represented the South African team in qualifying, and will be joined by 1988 Le Mans winner Jan Lammers for the race. 

Although CWS Engineering (#178, Colin White / Daniel Morris / Paul Buccini / Alistair Mackinnon) ended Q1 with provisional TCE pole position, the Ginetta G55 was pipped for TCE class pole position by J-Mec Engineering BMW M3 E46 (#133, James Collins / Kevin Clarke / Nigel Greensall / Jimmy Broadbent), thanks to a strong showing for the latter in Q2 and an off into the gravel for the Ginetta during Q3. 

YouTube presenter and social media influencer Jimmy Broadbent makes his 24H SERIES debut with J-Mec Engineering this weekend. 

2020 Overall GT Teams’ ‘Continents’ champion SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#127, Henning Eschweiler / Benito Tagle / Tommy Gråberg / Richard Jodexnis) will start 3rd in the TCE class with its Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS (Type 982). Series debutant asBest RACING (#101, Peter Baumann / Thomas Ardelt / Junichi Umemoto / Kim Berwanger) bounced back from early engine-related electrical gremlins for its SEAT León Cup Racer to complete qualifying and bank 4th on the TCE grid.   

Following official Night Practice this evening between 20.45 hrs and 22.15 hrs local time, the green flag for the 25th edition of the Hankook 24H BARCELONA is scheduled to fly tomorrow – Saturday 14 September – at 12.00 hrs. The 24-hour event will run uninterrupted until 12.00 hrs on Sunday 15 September, after which the series 2024 class champions will be crowned in an official prizegiving. 

The action will be live with commentary from radiolemans.com on the official 24H SERIES YouTube channel. Regular updates will also be published on X (@24HSeries), Facebook (24H Series) and Instagram (24H Series). Further information can be found HERE