Garage 59 scored a one-two in the final Endurance Cup qualifying of 2025. The #58 McLaren of Dean MacDonald, Adam Smalley and Louis Prette earned the ROWE Pole Position Award, edging out the sister #59 machine after a highly competitive session.
Alessio Rovera paced Q1 in the #51 AF Corse Francorchamps Motors Ferrari, followed by Joseph Loake in the #59 and Smalley in the #58. Marvin Kirchhöfer then sent the #59 to the top of the order by leading Q2, his 1m39.283s ultimately proving to be the best time of the day. Prette was third in the second session, firmly establishing the three contenders for pole.
MacDonald made the difference in Q3, placing fifth in the session while Benjamin Goethe was ninth in the sister car and Yifei Ye could only manage 18th in the Ferrari. This ensured a Garage 59 one-two, with the AF Corse machine lining up third. The #17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed entry completed the top four after recovering from a poor start in Q1.
The #58 McLaren is the first Gold Cup entrant to secure overall pole at an Endurance Cup event and the first car from outside the Pro class to take pole since the 2023 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. McLaren now has five Endurance Cup poles and two for the season after Kirchhöfer secured Super Pole at Spa.
The title fight swung towards the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter squad, which qualified sixth overall and well clear of their championship rivals. The #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche will start 10th, while the #32 Team WRT BMW could only manage P21.
Silver Cup pole also went to Garage 59, with the #188 McLaren of James Baldwin, Guilherme Oliveira and Tom Fleming producing an excellent performance to qualify fifth overall. Bronze Cup pole went to the #8 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Nicolò Rosa, David Fumanelli and Niccolò Schiro, who will start 23rd on the 60-car grid.
The final GT World Challenge powered by AWS race of 2025 gets underway at 15:00 CEST and can be watched live on the GT World YouTube channel.
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> RESULTS: Qualifying