KESSEL RACING takes pole for the 2017 Gulf 12 Hours
The #11 Ferrari of Kessel Racing will start from pole position for the 7th edition of the Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Drivers Michael Broniszewski, Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina set a combined average of 2:09.450, to put the GT Pro entered stallion at the top of the time sheets.
Molina, the fastest of the Kessel trio, set a time of 2:08.460 in Q2, an impressive 1.3 seconds ahead of Sergio Pianezzola in the sister 488 GT3.
Joining the #11 Ferrari on the front row, and pole sitter in the LMP3 class, is the #9 GRAFF Racing Ligier JS P3. Alexandre Cougnaud set the fastest time of the driver line-up, a 2:08.638, in the third session and team mate Australian driver Scott Andrews topped Q1 with a time of 2:08.844.
The second row will consist of the #17 ULTIMATE Ligier, with a combined time of 2:09.524, and the GT Pro/Am pole positioned #97 car of OMAN Racing Team, only four tenths behind.
The first qualifying session was marred by a red flag, after the #1 GRAFF Racing car of Aussie driver in Neale Muston and the #27 GP Extreme Renault RS01 of Roald Goethe collided at the penultimate corner. The damage on the Ligier JS P3 was repaired in time for the #1 car to complete qualifying, however, the Renault was forced to retire, missing the remaining sessions and therefore will start towards the back of the grid.
Australian youngster Josh Burdon set the fastest lap, not only across all three sessions but also of the meeting far. An incredibly impressive 2:07.459 meant he was the only driver to break into the 2:07s. Burdon was taken aback by his performance, “It was good, a little unexpected. I didn’t do a lot of practice. I went in a bit blind. I got some space, got a couple of laps in.”
Fellow Aussie Ricky Capo will share the car with Burdon.
There’s no shortage of Aussies in action this weekend with plenty of familiar names entered across the classes.
Apart from Andrews, Burdon, Capo and Muston, Carrera Cup regular Max Twigg, Nick Foster and John Corbett will also be taking part in the two part event.
Another highlight of the qualifying session was Guy Cosmo’s ‘one lap wonder’ in the #24 United Autosports Ligier, following the stoppage in Q1. After struggling to find some space on track, Cosmo came through the pit lane to have a second stab at his run. Unfortunately, just as Guy started his first flying lap, the red flags were brought out and he believed his session was ruined. “As I think a lot of guys are, we are really struggling to get the tyre temperatures up and find the balance in the car” Cosmo commented. “There was absolutely no way I was going to get a time that I know I could have had.” However, Guy gave it his all and posted a time good enough for P2 overall in the session, 0.539 of a second over the OMAN Racing Team Aston.
The GTX class saw the #46 TARGET Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo (GTX1) sit fastest in all sessions and take pole position, with a 2:12.312, and 14th overall. GTX2 pole was claimed by the #14 MRS GT-Racing Porsche 991 GT3 and the Generation AMR SuperRacing Aston Martin will head the GTX3 class.
The first part of the 2017 Gulf 12 Hours will begin at 09:10 (UTC+04:00) on Saturday 16th and will run for six hours. The teams are then given a break until 17:45, where part two will go green and the checkered flag will drop just before midnight after the remaining six hours have lapsed.
Follow the race live, with commentary from the Radio Show Ltd, via the Gulf 12 Hours Facebook page, website (www.gulf12hours.com) and Gulf 12 Hours YouTube channel.
