Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium (18 April 2025):

Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO team HOFOR Racing secured an emotional and highly popular first ever Michelin 24H SERIES pole position in Belgium this afternoon, during qualifying for the second round of the 2025 European Series – the seventh staging of the Michelin 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS.

Wet weather had been prevalent throughout the week in the Ardennes during the build-up to the second event of the season, but for today’s qualifying session brighter skies arrived and it was the HOFOR squad which claimed outright and GT3 AM pole for the weekend’s race by 0.6 seconds.

In session one, which was punctuated by a red flag stoppage midway through when the Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II made heavy contact with the barriers at Raidillon, Alexander Prinz produced a stellar performance to deliver a best lap of 2m17.767 seconds.

Due to the time delay in making repairs to the barriers, Creventic organisers cancelled the scheduled third session and so qualifying two would determine the grid. Torsten Kratz climbed behind the wheel of the HOFOR car and by almost matching Prinz’s best, delivering a time of 2m17.885 seconds, the Swiss team – which also includes Chantal Prinz and her father Michael Kroll – made history. 

“Our first pole position at Creventic [Michelin 24H SERIES] and then here at Spa, it’s overwhelming”, said an emotional Alexander Prinz, “The first part of my quali, we went out like always trying to figure out the best position for myself on the track. It went quite well, then the red flag, and I was worried would I be able to find the space again? On my second lap I improved my time and the guys said I was P1, which was a little bit surprising, and then we crossed our fingers for Torsten.”

It’s a front-row lock-out for Mecedes-AMG GT3 EVO, with the outright GT3 entry of Red Ant Racing claiming second on the grid thanks to the combined efforts of Ayrton Redant and Kobe de Breucker, who will be partnered in the weekend’s race by Yannick Redant and Kenneth Heyer. 

Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO team E2P Racing head row two overall with qualifying drivers Oliver Campos and Antonio Sainero plus Pablo Burguera, second fastest in GT3 AM and just a couple of tenths shy on average times of Red Ant Racing. Scuderia Praha has GT3 PRO AM pole with its Ferrari 296 GT3 of Miroslav Vyboh, Matus Vyboh and qualifiers Dennis Waszek and Josef Kral. 

In the 992 class, Muhlner Motorsport’s No.921 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) of Julian Hanses and Martin Rump claimed a deserved pole position in ninth overall, and they are joined by Valters Zviedris for the race. Meanwhile, the 992 AM pole was secured by SebLajoux Racing’s Marlon Menden and Paul Meijer, joined for the race by Stephane Perrin and Sebastien Lajoux himself.

GTX success was taken by 111 Racing with Darren Currie and Geoffrey Emery piloting the IRC GT car, in which they’ll be joined by Daniel Studdard for the race. In GT4 the BMW M4 GT4 EVO (G82) of Hamofa Motorsport was a second clear in the hands of Rob and Kris Verhoeven, and BMW was also the pace-setter in TCE-TCX with J-Mec Engineering’s BMW M3 E46 of Kevin Clarke and James Collins.

Continental Racing by Simpson Motorsport was among the early challengers in session one, Vasily Vladykin fourth overall with just under seven minutes to run. As he headed out of Eau Rouge on his fourth lap though, the No.69 Audi R8 clipped the kerbs and was pitched into a spin into the barriers at Raidillon.

Prior to the cessation, Prinz was the clear pace-setter in the HOFOR Mercedes-AMG with a lap of 2m18.462 seconds, delivered on only his second flyer, and seven cars hadn’t yet set lap times. At the resumption, Prinz improved his time by seven tenths of a second as the No.21 HAAS RT Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II went second quickest in the hands of Gregory Servais.

Third at the flag for Q1 was Melvin Moh in the Viper Niza Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, with Campos putting the E2P Aston fourth ahead of the Red Ant Mercedes-AMG of Ayrton Redant and Dustin Blattner in the Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. 

Kratz made sure of overall pole in Q2 with a best lap only a tenth of a second shy of Prinz, as Red Ant Racing and E2P Racing consolidated their performances with de Breucker and Sainero respectively securing second and third. Klaus Bachler, meanwhile, flew in the Proton Huber Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), the quickest driver of the afternoon with a lap of 2m15.980 seconds. 

Then, with less than two minutes to go, the session ended under red flags when the Pellin Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, in the hands of Felice Jelmini, made contact with the barriers. Fourth on the grid was taken by the SP4 class development Porsche 911 GT3 R (25) of Herberth Motorsport, to be raced by Ralf Bohn, Alfred Renauer and Laurin Heinrich. Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing will start fifth with the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) shared by Jonathan Hui, Chris Froggatt and Loek Hartog.

At the time of the red flag in qualifying one, Magnus Holmgaard was fastest in 992 in the eponymous Holmgaard Motorsport run Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992). Following the resumption, Hanses came to the fore for Muhlner Motorsport with a time of 2m20.380 seconds placing him inside the outright top six as well – and 0.8 seconds faster than the sister No.918 car of David Jahn.

Hanses handed over the No.921 to Rump who managed to keep the car on pole by the end of session two, but only just. Rik Breukers, in the championship leading Red Camel-Jordans.nl Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992), was easily the quickest driver in session and produced a best lap of 2m20.671 seconds, meaning the No.909 car was just a tenth of a second shy of 992 pole on average times.

Fabian Danz had taken the opening session for Red Camel, which he concluded third in 992, and he and Breukers will be joined in the race by Luc and Ivo Breukers. Third in 992 was the No.918 Muhlner entry of Jahn, Nick Salewsky and Felipe Fernandez Laser.

Behind the 992 AM class pole car of SebLajoux Racing, second in 992 AM was the RPM Racing team of Tracy Krohn, Niclas Jonsson and Philip Hamprecht and third in the 992 AM class was the Ajith Kumar Racing by Red Ant entry of Ajith Kumar himself, Fabian Duffieux and Mathieu Detry. 

Both of the aforementioned teams encountered dramas in testing, the Ajith Kumar entry needing to switch to a Porsche run by Red Ant Racing following a hefty accident. Then forced to join qualifying late due to a throttle issue, third in the AM class was a hard-earned result.

It was a strong qualifying for the 111 Racing team with Currie leading GTX at the end of session one with a superb time of 2m26.724 seconds in the IRC GT. Session two was taken by Emery and while a couple of seconds shy of Currie’s pace, pole position was secured comfortably from the Vortex 2.0 of Philippe Bonnel, Lionel Amrouche and Cyril Calmon.

BMW power topped both the GT4 and TCE-TCX classes. In the former, Rob Verhoeven was fastest by some margin in the first qualifying period in the Hamofa Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO (G82) and Kris Verhoeven was only six tenths shy in session two to ensure GT4 pole by a second.

SRS Team Sorg Rennsport’s No.452 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport was second in GT4, with Guy Stewart and Harley Haughton taking qualifying duties in the two sessions. J-Mec Engineering dominated TCE-TCX with Clarke and Collins in the No.133 BMW M3 E46.

The opening five hours of the Michelin 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS will commence at 12.50 local time tomorrow, Saturday 19 April. Part two of the race, the concluding seven hours, will begin at 10.50 local time on Sunday, 20 April. Watch all of the action live at Creventic Motorsports TV via YouTube or through www.24hseries.com