Nico Hantke (21/Hürth) was on top form at the Red Bull Ring. The Scherer Sport PHX driver set a time of 1:28.681 minutes in qualifying for Saturday’s race to secure his first pole position in the ADAC GT Masters. A crash had forced the racer from Hürth and his team-mate Denis Bulatov to miss last week’s event at the Salzburgring, but they returned in style in Spielberg and will now start from the front of the grid. “The team did a mega job and quickly assembled a new car. Now we have finally achieved what we wanted,” celebrated Hantke. “We knew we would probably be good, but it still came as a surprise that it was good enough for pole.”
With a track temperature of 16 degrees and isolated damp areas around the circuit, the ADAC GT Masters drivers took to the Red Bull Ring for qualifying. These conditions appeared to suit Sandro Holzem (21/Polch/Schubert Motorsport), who missed out on pole by 0.117 seconds but starts alongside Hantke on the front row in his BMW M4 GT3 Evo.
Third and fourth place on the grid are all about the title race. Leyton Fourie (19/RSA/FK Performance Motorsport) currently lies second in the overall standings in a BMW M4 GT3 Evo, but will start Saturday’s race one position ahead of championship leader Salman Owega (20/Cologne/Haupt Racing Team) in a Ford Mustang GT3. The two rivals were separated by just 0.098 seconds in qualifying, while the gap at the top of the table is a mere eight points. Alain Valente (28/CHE/Land-Motorsport) in the Audi R8 LMS GT4 Evo 2 completed the top five in qualifying. Local favourites Razoon – more than racing, who are third in the championship, had to settle for ninth place with Simon Birch (18/DNK) at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Guest starter Gerhard Tweraser (36/AUT/ARC Bratislava) set the third fastest qualifying time in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1. The team from Slovakia was subsequently disqualified, because the car did not reach the minimum weight. However, they can still start the race from the back of the grid.
The first race of the weekend starts at 15:05 on Saturday. Any fans who could not make it to the Red Bull Ring can still enjoy all the action, as . Sport1.de, Joyn, ServusTV ON and youtube.com/ADACMotorsports are streaming the race live.
