M4 GT3 maintains ominous pre-race form
Manthey EMA Porsche and Scherer Sport PHX Audi complete top three
Varrone’s Ferrari sets outright pace in Top Qualifying 1
Max Hesse maintained BMW and RMG’s grip on ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nurburgring build up by taking pole position in Top Qualifying 2 yesterday evening.
The M4 GT3 he shares with Dan Harper and Charles Weerts set a 8m10.992s on its first flying lap to beat Laurens Vanthoor and Manthey EMA’s Porsche by 0.406s, while Scherer Sport PHX’s Audi driven by Ricardo Feller slotted into third just eight thousandths further back.
As such, Intercontinental GT Challenge entries will occupy the front row for the globe-trotting GT3 series’ race debut at the Nordschleife today
RMG had served notice by pacing each of the three regular qualifying sessions but couldn’t repeat the feat in Top Qualifying 1 where Nicolas Varrone and Frikadelli’s Ferrari set the fastest time of the weekend so far.
Sheldon van der Linde (ROWE Racing), Harper, Maro Engel (GetSpeed) and Arjun Maini (BILSTEIN) also progressed into TQ2 where they joined the 12 entries that previously earned their places via the NLS Qualifiers.
Like TQ1, each of the 17 cars was permitted two flying laps, and it was Augusto Farfus who briefly set the pace in ROWE’s BMW. However, that time was soon beaten by Varrone’s co-driver Daniel Keilwitz – albeit by only 0.001s – who then lost top spot to Feller and finally Hesse moments later.
Further back, Vanthoor looked set to relieve the BMW of pole after blitzing the first five sectors. However, a slower second half to the lap ultimately left him and the Grello Porsche four tenths shy after the initial runs.
There were few significant improvements second time around, although Feller did move back ahead of Kelvin van der Linde’s Red Bull Team Abt Lamborghini which finished the first round of laps in third place.
Scherer Sport’s other Audi, driven by Christopher Haase, also picked up two spots to head up row three alongside the Frikadelli Ferrari that won last year’s race, while ROWE’s #99 BMW starts seventh.
The best of the Mercedes-AMGs – as well as IGTC’s fourth and fifth placed entries – were eighth and ninth overall courtesy of Fabian Schiller (GetSpeed) and Maximilian Goetz (BILSTEIN).
And Falken’s #33 Porsche rounded out a top 10 covered by 2.7s.
The 52nd ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nurburgring – which hosts Round 2 of this year’s Intercontinental GT Challenge – begins at 16:00 CEST (GMT +2) today.
Watch it live on IGTC’s website and the 24hNBR YouTube channel.
