Tom Fleming won a debut pole for Garage 59 in the #10 car in the team’s first weekend running McLaren’s LMGT3 programme.

First up in LMGT3 Hyperpole was Timur Boguslavsky, making his Porsche debut in the #91, setting a time of 1.45.578, before Rui Andrade in the #61 Mercedes was quickest of those setting their first laps with a 1.44.730.

Tom Fleming then responded by breaking the 1.42sec barrier, storming the #10 into provisional pole with a time of 1.41.555, as the two Lexuses took second and third, Clemens Schmid’s #87 ahead of WEC debutant Hadrien David’s #78 by two tenths of a second.

Fleming was the man on a mission though, beating his own best time by setting a 1.41.181 on his very next lap while Scmid ran wide at the first Rivazza while chasing Fleming’s time. BMW’s new signing Sean Geleal was closest to Fleming, but still 0.631sec down with a 1.41.852, before Parker Thompson beat him by 0.221 on the penultimate circuit.

Both would be overshadowed by David, who came as close as 0.226sec from the McLaren to take second right before the red flag was brought out for the #34 Racing Team Turkey Corvette of Salih Yoluc that had found the gravel trap at turn 5. Third would be the sister Lexus of Schmid, who was just over a tenth back.

Then came both BMWs, Parker Thompson putting his #69 in fourth, two tenths ahead of Sean Geleal’s #32. The sole Mercedes of Rui Andrade that showed early pace never quite fullfilled on its promising first laps, the #61 9 tenths back from pole in sixth. Seventh was the #21 Ferrari of Simon Mann, while Boguslavskiy’s #91 Porsche was resigned to eighth after setting the fastest lap in the early running. Gianmarco Levorato’s #88 Ford was ninth, with Salih Yoluc tenth and last in Hyperpole after that late spin for the #34 car.