Finn Wiebelhaus (19/Obertshausen/Haupt Racing Team) secured pole position for Sunday’s ADAC GT Masters race with a time of 1:31.467 minutes. On a slightly damp track and in cool temperatures, the championship leader hit the top of the timing sheet early on in his Ford Mustang GT3, after which he consistently set new fastest times until the session was red flagged. Qualifying resumed after a 4:16-minute break, and Wiebelhaus found himself in a head-to-head battle for top spot with guest starter Fabrizio Crestani (37/ITA/Baron Motorsport) in a Ferrari 296 GT3. “I am very happy to get this pole,” said a delighted Wiebelhaus. “We had a good strategy in the mixed conditions, and the car was running superbly and felt good. My fastest lap was on slicks.”
Crestani, who eventually missed out on pole position by just 0.045 seconds, also found himself struggling with the slightly damp and cool conditions. However, he and his team Baron Motorsport promptly decided on the Pirelli slicks. “It was difficult to get heat in the tyres. The front of the Ferrari, in particular, does not make it easy in that regard. When the red flag came, I thought that was it. Fortunately, however, we came back out at exactly the right time. I was on my own and crossed the finish line just a few seconds before the chequered flag. It could not have worked out better,” said the Italian.
In third place was another Mustang, that of Dennis Fetzer (24/Gießen/Haupt Racing Team). He ended the session 0.996 seconds slower than Wiebelhaus. The best-placed BMW M4 GT3 Evo was driven by Julian Hanses (28/Hilden/FK Performance Motorsport), who guided it to fourth place. Rounding out the top five was Max Reis (18/Ramstein) at the wheel of the third Ford Mustang GT3 in the field.
Pole position also meant a further three points in the championship for Wiebelhaus and his team-mate Salman Owega (20/Cologne). Their rivals Tim Zimmermann (29/Langenargen/FK Performance Motorsport) in a BMW M4 GT3 Evo and Porsche driver Leo Pichler (23/AT/Razoon – more than racing) could do no better than sixth and tenth in qualifying.
Sunday’s ADAC GT Masters race will be streamed live from 15:10 on Sport1.de, Joyn, ServusTV ON and youtube.com/ADACMotorsports. The race will then be replayed in full on TV station Sky Sport Mix from 21:00.
