24H Spa: Lilou Wadoux qualifies for Superpole
- RACERS
- 13 hours ago
- 6 min read
Lilou Wadoux put the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 into Friday’s Superpole after a superb opening qualifying segment for the 24 Hours of Spa on Thursday night, helping the Pro-class Ferrari secure fifth place overall in the combined times.
Lilou Wadoux put the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 safely into Friday’s Superpole shootout after a superb opening qualifying segment for the 2026 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa on Thursday night, helping the Pro-class Ferrari secure fifth place overall in the combined classification after a strong qualifying effort for the Frenchwoman who was the fastest of the trio.
In a 69-car field for the world’s biggest GT3 race, Wadoux will be the only female driver to progress into the final pole-position battle, showcasing great pace for the AF Corse Pro lineup she shares with Arthur Leclerc and Sean Gelael.
The French Ferrari factory driver arrived at Spa fresh from an eighth-place finish in LMGT3 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans just two weeks earlier, and immediately carried that momentum into another of endurance racing’s most elite events of the year.
Wadoux is one of four women on the 2026 Spa 24 Hours grid. Sarah Bovy returns to her home event in the #700 Comtoyou Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Pro-Am category, Michelle Gatting makes a one-off entry with the #97 Rutronik Racing Porsche in Bronze, and full-season entry Carrie Schreiner is back in the #88 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi for the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup flagship round.
While Wadoux and AF Corse celebrated a place in Superpole, the other female drivers all had an eventful qualifying day. Bovy and her all-Belgian Comtoyou squad looked set to secure Pro-Am pole before post-session penalties stripped the car of all its Q3 times, while Gatting and the Rutronik team were heavily compromised by red flags in the Q2 sessions. Schreiner’s Audi crew, meanwhile, put together a more solid and consistent run to end the evening sixth in Bronze.
With the Pro class featuring only three drivers, the qualifying work for the #50 AF Corse Ferrari began in Q2, with Wadoux taking the first run for the crew. She immediately laid down a great lap; the Frenchwoman was quick from the outset, producing a 2:17.110 that placed the Ferrari second fastest in the session, less than a tenth of a second behind the sister #51 AF Corse car driven by Alessio Rovera.
In a class stacked with factory talent and with track conditions steadily improving as darkness fell over Spa-Francorchamps, it was an outstanding effort from Wadoux.
Arthur Leclerc took over in Q3 and was also immediately competitive as lap times continued to tumble with the improving track and dropping temperatures. The Monegasque driver clocked a 2:17.180, remarkably close to Wadoux’s benchmark and only 0.070s slower than the Frenchwoman. His effort placed him ninth overall in the session and fifth among Pro runners.
Sean Gelael completed the qualifying job in Q4. The Indonesian driver set a 2:17.297, which was good enough for 14th overall in the segment and eighth in Pro. It was still more than sufficient to maintain the car’s strong aggregate position.
On combined times, Wadoux remained the quickest of the #50 Ferrari trio, and AF Corse ended the night fifth overall, comfortably inside the top 32 and therefore through to Friday’s Superpole session. Out of a huge 69-car field, the result was good statement from the #50 crew and a strong indication that Wadoux, Leclerc and Gelael could be contenders for a prominent overall grid slot.
On the other hand, Sarah Bovy’s qualifying ended in heartbreak. The Belgian, racing at home just a week after competing at Spa in the GT2 European Series with Iron Dames, joined an all-Belgian Pro-Am lineup in the #700 Comtoyou Aston Martin Vantage GT3 alongside Xavier Knauf, Gregory Servais and Nicolas Baert. The experienced and locally rooted crew, from the very first qualifying segment, showed the pace to fight for class pole.
Knauf opened the session in Q1 and immediately demonstrated the car’s potential as he posted a 2:22.117, which placed the Aston Martin second in Pro-Am and 34th overall.
Despite interruptions and red flags, Gregory Servais then delivered an excellent Q2 performance: his 2:19.962 moved the Aston Martin to provisional Pro-Am pole by two tenths of a second and gave the car momentum heading into Bovy’s segment.
Bovy was in the car for Q3 and produced a strong run of her own. She stopped the clocks at 2:18.986, sixth fastest in Pro-Am, and importantly did so while showing very consistent speed across the session, repeatedly lapping within a few tenths of her best time.
Bovy’s best lap time was however deleted for a pit-lane infringement. Even so, the #700 Aston Martin still initially remained in excellent shape overall and very much in the fight for class pole on the combined classification.
Nicolas Baert then completed the job in Q4 with a 2:18.816, just over a tenth quicker than Bovy’s benchmark, which appeared to seal pole position in Pro-Am for the Comtoyou crew. For a brief moment, the all-Belgian squad sat at the top of the class and looked set to begin the biggest GT3 race of the year from the best possible Pro-Am grid slot.
After the end of qualifying, however, all Q3 times for the #700 Aston Martin were deleted, with the Aston Martin dropped all the way to 63rd overall and losing its class-leading position.
Michelle Gatting is returning to GT3 racing at Spa, joining Rutronik Racing’s #97 Porsche in the Bronze Cup alongside Martin Rump, Antares Au and Sven Müller. For Gatting, it marked a return to the cockpit after the 24 Hours of Dubai, and she quickly reminded everyone of her pace with a very solid qualifying segment.
Martin Rump took driving duties in the opening Q1 session and clocked a 2:20.227, which placed the Porsche eighth in Bronze. Q2 proved more problematic, as the session was disrupted by two red flags, which badly compromised several Bronze and Pro-Am entries, and the #97 Porsche was one of the victims as Antares Au was unable to record a representative lap - in a big setback for the team's overall qualifying result.
Gatting responded with a strong performance in Q3. She produced a 2:18.323 to go fifth fastest in Bronze, that helped drag the Porsche back toward the front half of the class.
Sven Müller then took over for the final segment and added a 2:17.946, which placed him seventh in class in Q4 and completed a competitive run by the Porsche squad.
On combined times, the #97 Porsche ended up 11th in Bronze and 60th overall after the costly Q2.
Carrie Schreiner headed into Spa looking to build on a positive step forward at Monza, where she and the team had shown pace capable of challenging for a class podium. Back in the #88 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3, she was joined by Sergio Sette Câmara, Daniele Di Amato and Georgios Kolovos for the biggest event of the GT World Challenge Europe season.
Schreiner drove the first segment in Q1 and recorded a 2:22.281, which placed the Audi 13th in Bronze class. Kolovos took over in Q2 and had to deal with one of the most disrupted sessions of the evening; even so, he managed to secure a lap time of 2:22.590, good enough for eighth in Bronze.
Daniele Di Amato was in the car for Q3 and found a stronger lap of 2:18.641, which placed him ninth in class and continued the Audi’s gradual climb. Sergio Sette Câmara, drafted into the team for the Spa round, completed the quartet in Q4 with a 2:17.801. It was a solid effort from the Brazilian and good enough for seventh in Bronze in the final segment. The four laps combined to leave the #88 Audi sixth in Bronze class and 49th overall.
When the dust settled on Thursday night, Lilou Wadoux was the only one of the four female drivers guaranteed a place in Friday’s Superpole, scheduled for 15:05 local time.
All eyes will now turn to Friday’s Superpole, where Wadoux and the #50 Ferrari will have a major opportunity to convert their strong qualifying form into a front-running starting position for the 24 Hours of Spa.