An enthralling inaugural Gulf 12 Hours is in prospect after four tight sessions of qualifying at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Starting from pole position will be the Avelon Formula Wolf GB08, qualified by Italian Ivan Bellarosa on 2’10”167s. It is the first time that CN2 cars have raced alongside GT3s and to balance the performance, giving everybody a shot at the overall win, their race pace will be handicapped by pit stops of 45s greater minimum duration than their rivals.
The next four places in the qualifying classification were all GT3 cars, covered by less than half a second.
Ireland’s Matt Griffin placed the AF Corse Ferrari 458 second (2’11”687), ahead of the similar car of Switzerland’s Kessel Racing, driven by Philipp Peter (2’11”714).
Ryan Dalziel qualified the United Autosports Audi R8 LMS fourth (2’11”976), just six thousandths clear of Niki Cadei in the second AF Corse Ferrari (2’11”982).
Next was a trio of CN2 cars, the IF Motorsport Ligier JS49s of Matthew Bell/Andres Serrano/Kevin Weeda and Manhal Alios/Mark Smithson/Pierre Renom, and the second Avelon Wolf of Riccardo Romagnoli/Edo Varini and local driver Juma Ali Juma Al Dhahei.
The quickest Cup class entry, Bonaldi Motorsport’s Lamborghini Gallardo qualified by former F1 driver Alex Caffi, starts 10th, while quickest GT4 entry is the Aston Martin entered by Yas Marina for Saeed Al Mehari/Mohamed Al Mutawaa/Thani Bin Thani.
The 12 Hours (two six hour segments with a 90 minute break) starts at 9.30am UAE time Friday.
