Jannes Fittje (25/Langenhain/SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm) secured pole position for Saturday’s ADAC GT Masters race at Circuit Zandvoort. His fastest time of 1:43.339 minutes at the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 was enough to ensure he will start from the front of the grid for the first time in the ADAC’s GT3 series.
“I have had to wait five years for my first pole in the ADAC GT Masters, and am very happy that everything finally came together today, and that I had a little bit of good fortune,” said a beaming Fittje, who shares the car with Moritz Wiskirchen (22/Euskirchen). “In the rain, you can tell in the first couple of laps whether or not you are in with a chance. The tyre worked immediately, which gives you confidence. When it comes to the race, I am confident in any conditions, as our car should also be very strong in the dry.”
In a rainy qualifying session with temperatures around 12 degrees, Emil Gjerdrum (18/NOR/ Liqui Moly Team Engstler by GRT) took second place in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2. Fellow Lamborghini racer Simon Connor Primm (20/Großschirma/Paul Motorsport) completed the top three in qualifying.
Like Fittje, Gjerdrum set fast lap times from the word go and was consistently among the front-runners. “We have worked very hard to get heat into the tyres, and we managed that today,” said the delighted Engstler driver. “I have very good car control, as I have been driving on ice in karts and other vehicles since the age of five. Plus, it rains an awful lot where I’m from in Norway.”
Denis Bulatov (26/Scherer Sport PHX) was fourth fastest in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2, ahead of another Lamborghini. Newcomer Baptiste Moulin (25/BEL/Liqui Moly Team Engstler by GRT) rounded out the top five in the opening ADAC GT Masters qualifying. The session was suspended roughly three minutes from the end and never resumed, as Jonathan Cecotto (25/VEN/Haupt Racing Team) had come off the track in his Ford Mustang GT3 and was stuck in a gravel bed.
Race one at Circuit Zandvoort begins at 15:15. The 60-minute race will be streamed live on Sport1.de, Joyn, ServusTV ON and Youtube.com/ADACMotorsports, and will also be available on demand. A full replay of the race will also be shown on TV from 22:00 on Sky Sport Mix.
