Kévin Estre shines in rain by comfortably taking best time in qualifyingTitle contenders in Top Ten: Championship fight hotting upSPORT1 will broadcast second race live today at 13:00
Kévin Estre (27, F) is on a roll. With a lead of 0.878 seconds, the Frenchman and team-mate David Jahn (25, DEU, both KÜS TEAM75 Bernhard) secured the top position on the grid for the second ADAC GT Masters race at the old-school circuit in Zandvoort on the Dutch North Sea coast. The 27-year-old's lap time in the Porsche 911 - 1:49.749 minutes. Qualifying for the third-last race of the season was quite something for the Super Sports Car League drivers, as heavy, at times torrential, rain made the demanding circuit even more challenging. SPORT1 will broadcast the second race live on free-to-air TV at 13:00. The fixture can also be watched online as a live stream at www.sport1.de and www.adac.de/gt-masters. "I like rain," said Estre with reference to his best time. "But what's more, not only do we have a top-class team, we've got a first-rate engineer as well and an amazing car too as a result. And when you're feeling confident, then things just go right and you get that little extra buzz. I felt good about things right from the start. Two clear, fast laps was all it took. Everything is going really well at the moment, now I want to extend my perfect run of victories here in the wet." By securing this pole position, Estre has not only put himself in a good position for the final dash to the title but also his team-mate Jahn, who is 16 points higher up the driver standings. Frédéric Vervisch (30, B) & Christopher Haase (28, DEU, both Montaplast by Land-Motorsport) will also be on the front row this afternoon in the Audi R8. Norbert Siedler (33, A) & Jaap van Lagen (39, NL, both HB Racing WDS Bau) in the Lamborghini will be on the second row in front of Connor De Phillippi (23, USA) & Christopher Mies (27, DEU, both Montaplast by Land-Motorsport ) in an Audi R8, which is not a bad position to be in after drawing level on points in the drivers' standings yesterday with the leaders Keilwitz & Gounon (Callaway Competition), who will be lining up in P9 on the grid for Sunday's one-hour race. The Lamborghini pairing of Rolf Ineichen (38, CH) & Christian Engelhart (29, DEU, both GRT-Grasser-Racing Team) qualified third on the grid but have a ten-place penalty following an avoidable collision in yesterday's race. Reigning champions Sebastian Asch (30, DEU) & Luca Ludwig (27, DEU, both AMG Team Zakspeed) in the Mercedes-AMG and Luca Stolz (21, DEU) & Mirko Bortolotti (26, I, both GRT Grasser-Racing-Team) in the Lamborghini Huracán head up the third row. Fans, who want to be at the track in Hockenheim to watch the ADAC GT Masters season finale can now buy tickets from just 20 euros upwards (includes access to paddock) at www.adac.de/motorsport.