Charles Weerts gave Team WRT a significant pole position for this afternoon's Fanatec Sprint race at Zandvoort.
The #32 Audi driver was quickest after the first flurry of laps and then repeated the trick on his second run, ultimately posting an unmatched 1m33.145s. This was 0.045s faster than Simon Gachet (#11 Tresor by Car Collection Audi), who briefly held provisional pole before being toppled by the reigning series champion.
The real significance of Weerts' pole comes from the fact that title rival Timur Boguslavskiy could only qualify 14th in the #89 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG, which paced both of yesterday's practice sessions. As such, this afternoon's race offers a golden opportunity for Team WRT to return to the top of the Fanatec Sprint standings.
Ulysse De Pauw will start from third and as the leading Silver Cup runner. The young Belgian delivered yet again at the wheel of the #53 AF Corse Ferrari, lapping just 0.081s shy of Weerts. His closest class contender this afternoon will be Igor Walilko (#86 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG), who produced his most impressive performance of the campaign to qualify P7 overall.
Luca Ghiotto (#12 Tresor by Car Collection Audi), Jules Gounon (#88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG) and Aurélien Pans (#25 Saintéloc Junior Team Audi) completed the overall top-six. The latter set a purple first sector late in the session only to spin, costing him a shot at a front-row start.
Pro-Am pole went to the impressive Miguel Ramos, who qualified 18th overall in his #188 Garage 59 McLaren. The Portuguese driver not only beat his class rivals, but also out-qualified two Pro runners and a pair of Silver Cup cars.
This afternoon's opening race gets going at 14:00. Coverage will be available across a variety of online platforms, including the GT World YouTube channel, with commentary in English, French, Italian and German.