Nicki Thiim secured pole position for the second GT World Challenge (GTWC) Europe Sprint Cup race at Magny-Cours after the stewards cancelled Kelvin van der Linde’s times he set during Qualifying 2. The Southafrican had comfortably led the session in the #32 Team WRT BMW, but a technical infringement promoted the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin to the head of the grid.
Van der Linde loses pole after technical checks
Van der Linde initially claimed pole with a 1:35.927, setting the only lap below the 1:36 barrier. His effort placed him 0.227 seconds clear of Thiim and appeared to give Team WRT a commanding advantage ahead of Race 2.
However, post-session technical scrutineering identified an overboost infringement on the #32 BMW. The stewards subsequently deleted all of the car’s lap times, leaving van der Linde and teammate Charles Weerts outside the classified order and at the back of the 44-car field.
Thiim leads a closely matched front group
Thiim inherited the pole with a 1:36.154 after placing the Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin second during Qualifying 2 at the GTWC Europe Sprint Cup in Magny-Cours. Christopher Haase joined him on the front row after taking the #84 Eastalent Racing Audi to within just 0.043 seconds of the revised benchmark.
Marvin Kirchhöfer delivered Garage 59’s strongest Sprint Cup qualifying result of the season by placing the #59 McLaren third. Ricardo Feller followed in fourth for Lionspeed GP, leaving the first four classified cars separated by only 0.196 seconds.
Arthur Rougier produced an impressive performance to take fifth overall in the #111 CSA Racing McLaren, finishing only 0.207 seconds away from pole. Patric Niederhauser completed the top six for Rutronik Racing in the Lamborghini Temerario GT3.
Mercedes-AMG misses the top six
Dani Juncadella led the Mercedes-AMG entries in seventh aboard the #3 Verstappen Racing car. Arthur Leclerc placed the #50 AF Corse Ferrari eighth, ahead of Dorian Boccolacci’s Boutsen VDS Porsche.
Maro Engel completed the top 10 for Winward Racing, finishing 0.503 seconds behind Thiim. Romain Andriolo followed in 11th for CSA Racing, while Louis Prette placed the second Garage 59 McLaren in 12th. Jordan Pepper ended the session 13th in the remaining classified Team WRT Pro entry.
Rougier, Montenegro and Dempsey secure class poles
Rougier’s fifth-place result also earned him a dominant Gold Cup pole. The French driver finished six overall positions ahead of class rival Andriolo, while Prette and Matías Zagazeta completed the leading Gold Cup runners in 12th and 14th respectively.
Ignacio Montenegro continued Team WRT’s strong Silver Cup form by qualifying 15th overall. The Argentine placed the #30 BMW four positions ahead of Comtoyou Racing’s Adrien Dorison, with Aurélien Panis taking third in class and 22nd overall for GetSpeed.
Peter Dempsey led the Bronze Cup in the #93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Porsche. His 1:37.387 placed him 25th overall and ahead of several Silver Cup entries. Dustin Blattner secured second in the category for Kessel Racing, while Rinat Salikhov completed the Bronze Cup top three for Winward Racing.
The revised classification puts Comtoyou Racing and Eastalent Racing on the front row, with Garage 59 and Lionspeed GP sharing the second row for Race 2 at Magny-Cours.
GTWC Europe Magny-Cours Qualifying 2 full result
