Verstappen Racing hampered by problems in Portimao qualifying

Max Verstappen, Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham were unable to get themselves into contention for pole position during qualifying at Portimão, with Verstappen Racing eventually classified 15th as the #2 Porsche took top spot.

The GT World Challenge Europe field took to the track for qualifying at 18:55 local time, with Verstappen, Barnicoat and Lulham sharing driving duties in the Mercedes GT3.

As in Formula 1, the session was split into three parts, though the format worked differently. Verstappen Racing fell into the B-group, in which every driver from a Pro or Gold team had to complete a stint, with the average lap time of all three team-mates combined with the A-group, made up of Bronze and Silver outfits, to determine the final order.

Barnicoat opened proceedings in the ten-minute Q1B segment. His first flying lap was good enough for tenth, though the Mercedes GT3s were visibly bouncing heavily down the straights. The Briton was unable to improve on his time and ended the session in 21st, with Dutchman Morris Schuring impressively topping the times in the #2 Porsche.

Q2 and Q3

There was plenty of work to do for Verstappen Racing heading into the next phase. Lulham took over for Q2B, with the 23-year-old Briton also jumping up to tenth before eventually slipping to 15th. The average lap time improved, but not by enough to get back into the fight for the top positions.

Porsche's pace played a part in that. Dorian Boccolacci, team-mate to Schuring, continued to push hard in the #2 car and edged out Thomas Preining in the #80 Porsche. Maximilian Götz was the quickest Mercedes driver, in third.

It then fell to Verstappen to get the #3 Mercedes into as strong a starting position as possible for Q3. The Dutchman was considerably quicker than both Lulham and Barnicoat, but it was still not enough. Verstappen sat 13th after his opening lap and ultimately finished the session in 15th.

Sparks were again seen flying from underneath the car, which will almost certainly have cost time, with a problem involving the splitter the likely cause.

Pole position went to the #2 Porsche, handing Schuring a strong result on home soil. Saturday's race gets underway at 17:00 BST and runs for three hours, with the chequered flag due at 20:00 BST.