MUGELLO (13 November, 2020) – CP Racing (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster / Shane Lewis) has secured its first outright pole position in the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook in slick conditions at the 2020 Hankook 12H MUGELLO. At the rain-affected Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, Charles Espenlaub lapped the 5.245km Italian circuit in 1m 49.410s to secure the top spot in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo he will share throughout the 12-hour event with fellow former series champions Charles Putman and Joe Foster, and multi-time 24H SERIES class winner Shane Lewis.

In securing pole position for this year’s season finale, CP Racing also becomes the fifth different polesitter of the six 24H SERIES rounds held in 2020.

The American team will share the front row for ‘part one’ of this weekend’s Hankook 12H MUGELLO with 24H SERIES Europe and 24H SERIES Continents championship contender Herberth Motorsport. The Bavarian team secured 2nd and 3rd on the grid with its #92 Porsche 991 GT3 R (Robert Renauer / Alfred Renauer / Max Edelhof / Vincent Kolb) and the sister #91 entry (Ralf Bohn / Daniel Allemann / Robert Renauer) respectively.

The MP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (#58, Thomas Gostner / David Gostner / Corinna Gostner / Manuela Gostner) clinched 4th on the grid in the closing moments of qualifying, usurping the RD Signs racing team Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo (#720, Audrius Butkevicius / Egidijus Gutaravicius / Arturs Batraks / Martynas Griska) with just seconds left on the clock. The Lithuanian debutant now rounds out the overall top five in the GT field.

After a two-year absence from the 24H SERIES, the EBIMOTORS Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS MR (#473, Alessandro Cutrera / L.M.D.V. / Marco Talarico / Marco Frezza) made a storming return to the series by securing GT4 class pole position. A former multi-time category winner, the Italian team will start just ahead of the 991-class polesitting Speed Lover Porsche 991-II Cup (#978, Eric Mouez / Olivier Dons / Jürgen van Hover).

The Team Avia Sorg Rennsport BMW M4 GT4 (#451, Björn Simon / José Manuel de los Milagros Viñegla / Sergio Paulet Diaz / Philippe Valenza) was the second fastest GT4 qualifier and will start 8th overall, ahead of the PROsport Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (#401, Nico Verdonck / Rodrigue Gillion / Carrie Schreiner). Both teams currently lead the Overall GT Teams’ standings in the ‘Continents’ and ‘Europe’ title fights respectively heading into this weekend’s season finale.  

In a superb run in difficult conditions, the JR Motorsport BMW M3 E92 (#703, Ted van Vliet / Oscar Graper) took its second consecutive TCE pole position in the 24H SERIES, Oscar Graper having lapped the 5.245km Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello in an impressive 1m 59.593s. The Dutch squad was also on TCE pole position at the COPPA FLORIO 12H Sicily one round earlier.

Newly crowned Overall TCE Teams’ champion in the 24H SERIES Europe – Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing – got its 24H SERIES Continents title challenge off to a good start by securing TCR class pole and a front row spot on the TCE grid with its #112 Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR (Miklas Born / Roberto Ferri / Yannick Mettler / Alberto Vescov).

The Red Camel-Jordans.nl CUPRA TCR (#101, Ivo Breukers / Luc Breukers) will start 3rd in TCE, just ahead of the TOPCAR Sport CUPRA TCR (#131, Fabian Danz / Kari-Pekka Laaksonen / Adrian Spescha). The latter secured a second row spot in TCE in the dying moments of qualifying, pipping the second Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing entry (#1, Constantin Kletzer / Jasmin Preisig / Philipp Hagnauer / Stefan Tanner / Yannick Mettler) by a scant 0.027s.

The Nordschleife Racing Ligier JS2 R (#226, Guillaume Roman / Daniel Waszczinski / Mathieu Sentis) was the second fastest on the TCX runners and will line up 6th on the TCE grid ahead the AC Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS (#188, Stéphane Perrin / Mathieu Detry / James Kaye). The latter is just one point adrift in the Overall TCE Teams’ standings in the 24H SERIES Continents.

NKPP Racing by Bas Koeten Racing (#175, Harry Hilders / Gijs Bessem), which took outright victory at this year’s Hankook 16H HOCKENHEIMRING, rounds out the TCE field in qualifying on its return to the division with the CUPRA TCR.

Part one of the 2020 Hankook 12H MUGELLO gets underway at 12.00 hrs local time this afternoon, and the event will run uninterrupted until the chequered flag is waved at 17.00 hrs. Following the 24H SERIES’ customary overnight intervention, part two of the 12-hour event will begin at 10.45 hrs on Saturday 14 November. Live streaming of the race in HD quality will be available on our official website and the 24H SERIES YouTube channel. Regular updates will be published on Twitter (@24HSeries), Facebook (24H Series) and Instagram (24H Series). Further information can be found HERE.