GT1 World

GT1 Nürburgring: Pole position for Darren Turner

© DPPI

After the heavy rain on Friday the day started somewhat foggy in the Eifel region. But as the teams prepared for qualifying the weather improved and the teams were able to go out on the track under normal weather conditions. Right from the start the teams were on the pace and kept improving lap times.

Clivio Piccione was the first driver to post a fast lap (2:00.819) but the provisional pole sitter changed nine times during the first qualifying session. Darren Turner was the first driver to break the 2 minutes barrier with a 1:59.677 on his first flying lap and after a brief stop he returned to the track to improve to 1:57.479. Less than a minute before the end of the first part of qualifying Fred Makowiecki in the number 9 Hexis AMR Aston Martin DBR9 went three tenths of a second quicker and posted a 1:57.171. Behind Makowiecki and Turner it was Marc Hennerici in the Phoenix Racing Carsport Corvette.

At the back the battle for the 16th and final spot for Q2 intensified in the last minutes and when the chequered flag came out it was Nicolas Prost who was sixteenth. Not making the cut into the second qualifying were Seiji Ara (SRT Nissan), Ramos (Vitaphone Maserati), Hughes (Sumo Power GT Nissan), Heger (Triple H Maserati), Salo (Mad Croc Corvette), Mutsch (Matech Ford) and Kuppens (Marc VDS Ford).

With drops of rain reported betweens turn 5 and 9 the second qualifying session started as a wet session. Lap times were back towards the 2 minute mark at the start, but soon after Alex Margaritis posted a 1:58.202 and Mücke was the first to go into the 1:57’s again.
Halfway the session the gaps between the car were very small Alessandro Pier Guidi was quickest after setting a 1:57.780, with Michael Bartels just .013s behind, Frank Kechele .050s and Stefan Mücke .080s.

Christopher Haase moved in between Pier Guidi and Bartels with two minutes left on the clock, but moments later it was first Alex Margaritis who set the fastest time (1:57.764) and then Tomas Enge blasted through to the front by posting a 1:57.182. When the chequered flag came out again several cars were still on their hot lap, including Mücke who improved to second position (1:57.292). Frank Kechele ended the session in third place, half a second behind the two Young Driver AMR cars.

Peter Dumbreck in the Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R was the first of the drivers not making it into the final qualifying session, just .087 short of eight place. Menten (Mad Croc Corvette), Jani (Matech Ford), Hirschi (Hexis Aston), Clairay (Hexis Aston), Moser (SRT Nissan), Jäger (All-Inkl Lamborghini) and Leinders (Marc VDS Ford) also missed out on the final session.

Five minutes into the final session Peter Kox was the first driver to set a fast lap – just after Bert Longin had spun his Triple H Team Hegersport Maserati MC12 coming out of turn 1. Then things heated up again and Hennerici and Schwager improved Kox’ time, before the Dutchman briefly regained provisional pole. Darren Turner put in the fastest time of the day with three minutes left though – a 1:57.155 – on his second flying lap.

With less than a minute to go rain was reported again at turn 11 and this immediately showed in the lap times going up towards two minutes again.

None of the teams risked anything anymore and that resulted in Darren Turner taking pole position for today’s Qualifying Race. Peter Kox secured a front row start for Reiter Engineering, while Schwager finished the session in third place, completing yet another strong Lamborghini qualifying.

The start of the race this afternoon could be a tricky one. Turn 1 at the Nürburgring is always difficult to handle, but in colder or even wet conditions it could be a bigger struggle for cars like the Lamborghini and the Ford. With no heat in the front tires the handling and braking at the start could be an issue, something Tomas Enge was somewhat worried about after the session. But hopefully the race will not be decided in the first corner and all the spectators will be able to see a great race between Lamborghini, Aston Martin and the other teams.