Sweetnam Takes Pole In Red Flag Interrupted Qualifying

British Le Mans Cup debutant James Sweetnam took pole position for the first Michelin Le Mans Cup round of the season at Barcelona this afternoon, with a 1:36.962 lap in the #39 GRAFF Racing Ligier. The lap came a couple of minutes before the first of two red flags that interrupted the session and ultimately prevented any late challenges to his benchmark time.

The #16 Team Virage Ligier will line up on the front row alongside Sweetnam, after a flyer from Julien Gerbi. His 1:37.137, two-tenths off the pole time wasn’t his quickest lap, as he briefly went top with a 1:36.806, but it was later deleted by race control.

“It’s fantastic. The best start to the season we could ask for. We have been working so hard. To see it pay off with pole is amazing. I’m over the moon,” said his Sweetnam’s teammate Lucca Allen.

“I’m delighted, what an experience on my first time racing LMP3 cars in Europe,” Sweetnam added.

Third in the session was the M Racing Ligier of Hugo Delacour, who set a 1:37.388. The #7 Nielsen Racing and ##7 MV2S Racing Ligiers slotted in fourth and fifth.

In the session, Ligier teams occupied the top nine places on the timing screens. The fastest of the Duqueine entrants was the #3 DKR Engineering example which will start the race 10th.

The first of the two red flags in the LMP3 session came with six minutes remaining, after an off for Gerald Kraut in the #22 United Autosports Ligier in the braking zone for Turn 4. Kraut was pitched into a spin and the barriers, damaging the right rear of his JS P320.

“I’ve definitely got my work cut out for me now,” Kraut’s teammate Scott Andrews said in reaction to the incident. “But we’ve done it before, won from the back. It’s not going to be easy but I am going to give it my best shot. The car should be fine.”

The session then stopped again moments after the restart, when Adrian Watt had a spin at Turn 8, getting stuck on the inside kerb in the Murphy Prototypes Duquiene. It left just a couple of minutes for the drivers to make any improvements.

In the first of the two sessions, Arnold Robin took Pole in the 12-car GT3 class. The Frenchman set the fastest time in the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin in the final minute of the session, a 1:42.444. His pole time was a second improvement after his initial banker lap of 1:43.024 which put him top in the opening minutes.

“I’m really happy, it’s the first time for me in GT3, a great result,” said Robin after the session. “Racing Spirit of Leman recieved the car only last week, it was tough to get the car ready for the race but they did a great job.”

The #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 came closest at the hands of Hiroshi Hoizumi, who set a 1:42.743 to vault himself up the order and onto the front row in the class with three minutes to go in the 15-minute session.

The top three was completed by the HCR With CaffeineSix Porsche 911 GT3 R. Tim Creswick set a 1:42.897 to go within half a second of the pole time, before a spin at Turn 5 in the final minute of the session which brought out yellow flags and prevented multiple cars from improving.

Team Parker’s #64 Porsche and #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan completed the top five in the class.

The 1-hour 50-minute Le Mans Cup season opener is set to get underway at 17:30 local time in Spain.

QUALIFYING TIMES >>

Featured image courtesy of GRAFF