2016 Spa GP Pre-Race

124 cars shown up to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit with hopes of being one of the 42 cars to make the prestigious Spa Grand Prix. With Spa being the only over-capacity race of the season which will see cars go home, and no-one locked in, everything was on the line.

Qualifying was broken up into three different sessions. The first session decided the pole sitter for the event, as well as the top 10 in qualifying. The second session seen the field split into four sessions based on their qualifying times, and the top 5 from each session would make the grid, with their time determining their grid spot. The final twelve spots were decided by qualifying races.

== SESSION 1 ==

ROW 1

#47 Soren Kanerva (2:07.600)
#37 Tomas Prochazka (2:07.656)

ROW 2

#17 Dieter Ziegler (2:07.745)
#31 Gaspar De Sousa (2:07.821)

ROW 3

#1 Cassandra Collins (2:07.828)
#90 Kellan Rogers-Ashby (2:07.894)

ROW 4

#77 Stefan Halvari (2:07.977)
#71 Gabriel Macena (2:07.988)

ROW 5

#26 Carter Fitzgerald (2:07.996)
#72 Barney Ward (2:08.015)

== SESSION 2 ==

ROW 6

#13 Luc Pellerin (2:07.754; P1 in Q Group 1)
#56 Hannah Percy (2:07.805; P1 in Q Group 3)

ROW 7

#06 Ryan Matthews (2:07.846; P2 in Q Group 3)
#404 Caitlin Richler (2:07.950; P1 in Q Group 4)

ROW 8

#360 Reuben Vogt (2:07.999; P3 in Q Group 3)
#33 Stasya Filipov (2:08.031; P4 in Q Group 3)

ROW 9

#39 Christian McMillan (2:08.102; P2 in Q Group 4)
#84 Jacob Eichholtz (2:08.198; P2 in Q Group 1)

ROW 10

#22 Ike Durbin (2:08.223; P1 in Q Group 2)
#8 Tom Delgado (2:08.260; P3 in Q Group 4)

ROW 11

#98 Makoto Yamada (2:08.261; P5 in Q Group 3)
#5 Emily Brannagan (2:08.273; P3 in Q Group 1)

ROW 12

#21 Ben Atkins (2:08.282; P4 in Q Group 1)
#36 Carla Rosinski (2:08.283; P2 in Q Group 2)

ROW 13

#02 Harriet Wallace (2:08.387; P4 in Q Group 4)
#73 Velmier Jankovic (2:08.422; P5 in Q Group 4)

ROW 14

#155 Kailin Donohue (2:08.439; P3 in Q Group 2)
#50 Tanya Carter (2:08.467; P5 in Q Group 1)

ROW 15

#14 Mirelle Allain (2:08.684; P4 in Q Group 2)
#6 Lexie Percy (2:08.706; P5 in Q Group 2)

Matilda Dillinger, Ashley Flynn and Louis Walters from Session 3 would have been in the last two rows of this session had times been combined.

== SESSION 3 ==

ROW 16
#75 Vincenzo Fochesato (WINNER - Q Race 1)
#2 Thomas De Bock (WINNER - Q Race 2)

ROW 17

#28 Matilda Dillinger (WINNER - Q Race 3)
#34 Emi Satou (WINNER - Q Race 4)

ROW 18

#191 Dima Van Hall (2nd - Q Race 1)
#10 Elizabeth Francisco (2nd - Q Race 2)

ROW 19

#3 Patrick Arceneau (2nd - Q Race 3)
#16 Kurt Plissken (2nd - Q Race 4)

ROW 20

#09 Becky O'Rodagh (3rd - Q Race 1)
#091 Romain Carpant (3rd - Q Race 2)

ROW 21

#96 Greg Woodard (3rd - Q Race 3)
#08 Dan Morton (3rd - Q Race 4)

DNQ List:

Dash Cup Officials confirmed that driver swaps will be permitted for the event before qualifying, meaning that the grid is final.

Delgado Still Looking for First Major Win, Starts 20th in Spa GP

Tom Delgado Racing got two of their three cars into the Spa GP, with Tom Delgado leading the way for them, starting 20th. Despite his hall of fame-worthy career, Delgado has yet to win a major event, but he hopes that this is the one.

"I had near-misses at Karjala, Indianapolis, and Rockford. There's not much time left to win that major event. This has to be the one." Delgado said after making the field in second round qualifying.

Lough, Cavali Both Head Home Early from Spa
Jules Lough and Andrew Cavali, two drivers making one-off attempts at the prestigious Spa Grand Prix, failed to qualify into the 40 car field on Thursday.
"It was a crazy shot with the odds anyways," said Lough, a young karting champion, "we just had to go out there and get our name out, hope someone wants to put their faith in me."
"As an older driver, this was a shot I figured I could take. I've had a nice career, and this was a last-ditch effort, so I don't know where from here. Maybe I stay involved in circuit racing, maybe I go home to motorcycles.", were the words from the Canada driver.

Tony Long Autosport Put 2 in the GP

Tony Long Autosport's weekend in Spa has been magical seeing not one, but two cars make the Spa GP.

Drivers Romain Carpant and Dima Van Hall made the race after finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively in their LCQ's.

Tony Long attempted to make the race but would fall short.

Romain Carpant is looking for redemption after being taken out in the France Feature but goes in with the first ever podium finish Tony Long Autosport has had in the Super Stocks series.

Dima Van Hall is looking at possibly writing the final chapter of his career with a great run in the main race.

"I am proud that we were able to get 2 cars in with a small budget and have a chance to show what we can do from the back" Tony Long commented. "We will need some help to get a great run out of it but if we can get 1 car in the top 20, that is a great accomplishment for us."

Morton looking for another solid run

With a stellar run in 2013 in the Spa GP before his engine gave out when running inside the Top 5, even a last-place start couldn't put down the optimism Dan Morton was carrying into the 2016 Spa GP weekend. He was surprised to find himself finishing 3rd in his qualifying race and, in turn, grabbing the final slot on the grid for the main race.

"I'm just glad to be back in the race", Morton enthusiastically told the few reporters around him. "I feel like I've missed a few chances to prove I deserve a drive and I'm hoping my time isn't ran out yet. The team have given me a great car that hopefully can get us a few points out of this weekend and help us moving on from here as well."

Exuberant Fochesato Makes the Spa GP Grid with Qualifying Race Victory


The smile worn by Vincenzo Fochesato could be seen from Stavelot.

The young FIAM Engineering racer earned a place on the grid for the 2016 running of the Spa GP – the grandest event in Dash Cup – following a series of qualifying races. After failing to achieve one of the top 30 starting positions through time trials, the sophomore driver had to resort to placing in the top three in his qualifier; the first of the four to be held.

Rising to the occasion, Fochesato would score the victory.

The Italian has been noticeably more enthusiastic about the upcoming race throughout the week than has been seen from him in a while. The season started out poorly with a multitude of problems coming the way of the him and his team, but in recent weeks, he has slowly begun to return to form, having scored top ten finishes in three of the past four race weekends.

Whatever the reason may be for his enthusiasm, he has made little effort to contain it. In spontaneous fashion, Fochesato actually interrupted his cooldown lap following his qualifier to perform a quick series of burnouts to the right of Blanchimont. He would apologize to his crew over the radio for doing so, but followed it with the explanation, “I had to do that!”

Car #75 will line up 31st on the grid of 42 cars for the start of the race, three positions behind where he started the event last year. He was unable to qualify for the race in 2014, which was his first ever attempt at starting a Dash Cup race.

Mireille Allain of France, another driver for FIAM Engineering, barely managed to lock herself into the race, as well, having done so through time trials. She will be starting from the 29th position and directly in front of Fochesato on the grid, while the other FIAM driver, Italy's Franco Giovanardi, was unable to earn a starting spot for the race.

Woodard to run in the Spa GP, no driver swaps are announced.

The team feels that Woodard deserved some time in the limelight, Ambercroft and Motoko haven't had the best of seasons and their frustrations were clearly shown after they dnq'd

Makoto Yamada Qualifies for Spa

An overall satisfied Makoto Yamada was able to qualify midpack for his Dash Cup debut at Spa. "I'm excited", Makoto said. Not much of a response there, but we know Yamada is excited to race for sure.