Spa Francorchamps Circuit – Pole position for Jack Doohan of the Trident, the fifth poleman of the season, with Juan Manuel Correa qualifying 27th after a small incident he suffered in the middle of the 30-minute session that took place under the rain.
The Qualifying started under light rain, with the track wet and getting worse in the first few minutes. Fifteen minutes into the session, the rain stopped and the track started to improve, but considering how Spa is and its 7km and a half in the middle of the Ardennes forest, it is usual that there are places where it still rained and some others where the sun can even be shining.
Juan Manuel Correa went out and when it was raining harder, he lost control of his ART Grand Prix and crashed into the barriers, damaging the rear wing of his car. Luckily, he was able to get back to the pit box so that his mechanics could repair the damage.
The ART mechanics did a great job and returned the car to the track, but they were half a minute short so that Juan Manuel could complete a qualifying lap. Juan Manuel was at Les Combes at 14h23 and the session finished at 14h25. He was doing his best to try to cross the line before the checkered flag appeared. Even if the track was improving, we’ll never know if Juan Manuel’s effort would have been useless, as Doohan’s pole time was 2’21”953 and it was very complicated to cross in time to do a fast lap. Tijmen van der Helm, from the MP team, had an off track and the red flag was out, so Juan Manuel had to settle for the 27th place on the grid, with a time of 2’26”225, which he set when it was raining the hardest and after completing only 5 laps, the driver that had the least time on track of the qualifying session.
Juan Manuel Correa’s comments:
“The practice went pretty well, not due to the result, but we were in a moment in which we were pretty happy. I made a mistake on my fast lap, but without that mistake, taking into account only the sector on my next lap, I would have been in eighth position. I could have improve some tenth if I had another car in front but we have the car to be higher up.
I can’t be happy with the position, as we expected the qualifying to be on dry tarmac, and in those conditions I felt very good, but it rained.
With the first set of tyres I had an issue with the clutch that made me go out last and it was raining harder, so I was far away in times. In my second attempt, I went out of track in corner 9, crashed and damage the rear wing. The repairing time was crucial to try and have that last lap that I missed, but with the red flag there was very little we could do. It was a pity.
We’ll see tomorrow, because on this track it’s possible to overtake and I hope we can have a good pace and be able to gain places to get into the top 10”.
Juan Manuel Correa dedicates a few words to Anthoine Hubert, who died in the accident in which he himself was seriously injured.
“Yesterday, Thursday, when I walked around the circuit I placed a flower bouquet in memory of Anthoine (Hubert) where the accident took place. I felt a bit strange being here as a driver. I feel very lucky to have the chance to continue doing what I love doing and I try to find comfort in the fact that he would have done the same. This and every weekend, we compete for you, my friend”.
Race 1 will start on Saturday at 10h05 (CET).
Race 2 will start on Saturday at 17h55 (CET).
