BMS Scuderia Italia driver Fabrizio Gollin will start the 24 Hours of Spa, the sixth round of the FIA GT Championship, from pole position after setting fastest time in the first of Thursday night's qualifying sessions. 

The Italian set a time of 2:15.718 seconds, more than a second clear of championship leaders Thomas Biagi and Matteo Bobbi, who share their car this weekend with Stefano Livio and Ettore Bonaldi. The Care Racing-entered Ferrari 550 Maranello of Jean-Marc Gounon, Jerome Policand and Niki Cadei, qualified eighth with a time of 2m19.035s. 

The Care Racing supported team is now faced with a race against time to ready the number 23 car of Biagi, Bobbi, Livio and Bonaldi after Biagi crashed in the closing moments of the final qualifying session on Friday afternoon. The 5-time race winning driver went off at the Les Combes chicane when the throttle stuck open, and badly damaged the front of the 550 Maranello. 

"Our competitor now is time," said team manager Tiziano Minuti. "The accelerator was stuck at 40 per cent open, and Thomas was not able to turn through the corner. It was a big impact of 7G, the chassis at the front is damaged, the radiators, the radiator supports, the right suspension, the bonnet and so on are all damaged. We will try very hard to get the car ready for the race, but this has turned into a 48-hour race for us now. No one will sleep tonight.  We are getting lots of support from our technical partners, like Prodrive, who are sending out extra people to help us repair the car."

The team's race plan is to have the number 23 car go for maximum points at the six and twelve hour marks into the race, while Gollin, Luca Cappellari, Enzo Calderari and Lilian Bryner will be aiming for full points at the 24-hour mark. 

"It is very important for the number 23 car of Biagi and Bobbi to be fast to six hours and to twelve hours," said Minuti. "For the other car, we will be aiming for an overall result at 24 hours, the most important thing being for the car to finish well.”