SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS (6 September, 2024) – Max Kruse Racing has secured overall pole position for the Michelin 992 Endurance Cup powered by Porsche Motorsport, the first-ever 12-hour endurance race dedicated to the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) being held this weekend at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. 

Max Kruse Racing (#8, Jan Jaap van Roon / Tom Coronel / Paul Meijer / Benjamin Leuchter), the former German international footballer’s eponymous team, fought back to secure overall pole position by just over two-tenths of a second from Mühlner Motorsport (#4, Jeroen Bleekemolen / Martin Rump / Fabio Grosse), having started the third of this evening’s three qualifying sessions five-tenths back on its Belgian rival. 

In changeable conditions, the #4 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche set the fastest time in Q1 by just over seven-tenths, a gap that had only slightly eroded come the end of Q2. A flying final run by Paul Meijer however, aided by a bold team strategy call to run slick tyres in the difficult conditions, was enough to put Max Kruse Racing on top in the final stages. 

Paul Meijer: “It was hard! We were fighting all the way through qualifying. I think we took the right decision in Q1 to take the risk and go to slicks, and that worked out in Q2 and Q3 of course. I just wanted to stay within the lines on my last two laps in Q3, not take any risk with track limits, just bring the car home with a good time for pole position.”

Benjamin Leuchter, driver and co-founder of Max Kruse Racing: “The first session was really, really tricky, because the conditions were always between slicks and wet. We took the decision to take the slicks. It was high risk, but in the end, it worked out and I’m really happy for my boys!”

The German team set an aggregate best of 2m 22.456s across all three sessions. A time that reigning TCR Europe Touring Car champion, and World Touring Car Championship legend, Tom Coronel believes could have been fastest still had it not been for a clash with their main rivals in Q2.

Tom Coronel: “We call that karma! The car, who’s now in P2, blocked me big time at the chicane, and in the end, they didn’t make pole. That’s the way it is. But I had some good laps. It was getting dark, and drizzly on the windscreen – I thought, ‘oh, is it going to be okay?’ – but then I saw the lap times, saw everything was fine, and we started to push the car.” 

Heavy fog and intermittent rain during the day led to tricky conditions in the Ardennes. A dry line started to emerge more quickly on certain sectors of the 7.004km circuit than others, splitting strategies across the 27 cars entered for this weekend. One early red flag aside however, the near-one-hour session remained uninterrupted thereafter. 

Neuhofer Rennsport (#86, Felix Neuhofer / Alfred Renauer / Robert Renauer / Martin Ragginger) completed an exemplary fightback from 6th in Q1 to secure 3rd overall on the grid ahead of the first of two entries for Belgium Racing (#99, Dylan Derdaele / Jan Lauryssen / Sacha Norden). After a similarly strong run in Q3, the latter leapfrogged its way from 7th overall in Q1 to snatch both PRO/AM class pole at the flag, and 4th overall on the grid.

Porsche mainstay MRS GT-Racing (#90, Therese Lahlouh / Madeline Stewart / Alex Sedgwick / Nicolas Romano), having consistently run in the top five throughout the afternoon, appeared favourite to take PRO/AM pole only for two of the German team’s fastest laps in Q3 to be disallowed for a track limits infringement. MRS GT-Racing will now start 9th overall and 4th in-class after slipping back down the order. 

Like Neuhofer and Belgium Racing, Black Falcon Team 48 Losch (#48, Loek Hartog / Christopher Mies / Tobias Müller / Noah Nagelsdiek) methodically worked its way up the order, and even set the fastest lap of anyone in Q2, to secure 5th overall on the grid with the third fastest aggregate time of the PRO runners. Incredibly, the five-time winner of the 24H DUBAI fell just 0.006s shy, on aggregate, of a spot on the second row of the grid. 

Fittingly, the sister Black Falcon #5 Porsche 911 GT3 (992) – the second fastest runner in PRO/AM – lines up alongside the #48 on the third row of the grid. The second Black Falcon (#5, Mustafa Mehmet Kaya / Christopher Mies / Gabriele Piana / Mike Stursberg), with Gabriele Piana at the wheel, was one of only two cars to set a time below 2m 20s in qualifying, and dutifully worked its way up from 12th at the end of Q1. 

The fastest car overall in Q3 – the Seblajoux Racing by DUWO Racing (#888, Sebastien Lajoux / Stéphane Perrin / Laurent Misbach / Mathys Jaubert) – set a 2m 19.733s, courtesy of Mathys Jaubert, and lines up 16th overall and 3rd in the AM class. 

Aptly, the second and third Mühlner Motorsport Porsches entered this weekend will start alongside each other on the fourth row. The #18 (Parker Thompson / Jared Thomas / Anthony McIntosh / Glenn McGee) pipped the sister #21 (Ryan Yardley / Anthony McIntosh / Glenn McGee / Tyler Hoffman) to 7th overall on the grid by just 0.039s, though the latter did manage to secure AM class pole position. 

Behind the MRS GT-Racing Porsche, Tierra Outdoor Racing by HWM (#33, Ralph Poppelaars / Jop Rappange / Hans Weijs) rounds out the overall top 10 ahead of the second Belgium Racing Porsche (#98, Michael Cool / Ghislain Cordeel / Kobe de Breucker). Neuhofer Rennsport’s second entry (#85, Eric Kwong / Henry Kwong / Dylan Yip / Jinlong Bao) will start 12th.

The second Max Kruse Racing Porsche meanwhile (#10, Marcel Fugel / Dominik Fugel / Nico Otto / Benjamin Leuchter) completed a conservative run in qualifying to secure 15th on the overall grid.

Elfer Motorhome (#911, Leo Pichler / Kevin Raith / Andreas Höfler / Peter Eibisberger) was the first team to hit trouble during qualifying when Kevin Raith spun on the approach to the Kemmel Straight, significantly damaging the Porsche’s front end. The Austrian driver was given the all-clear at the circuit’s medical centre, and while the team was unable to resume qualifying, they are hopeful the car will be repaired in time for tomorrow’s race.

Sadly, Bas Koeten Racing will take no further part in this weekend’s event following a heavy off at Raidillon for Marcel Van Berlo in Free Practice. Though nursing injured rribs, Marcel has been given the all-clear to return home. CREVENTIC wishes the 24H SERIES staple a speedy recovery.