The title race took centre stage as early as qualifying for the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring. Felix Hirsiger (28/CHE/Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport), who currently lies second in the table, will start the opening race at the ADAC Truck Grand Prix from pole position. Lining up next to him on the grid will be championship leader Leyton Fourie (20/ZAF/FK Performance Motorsport). These two had battled it out for the top time in qualifying on Saturday morning, but it was Hirsiger who ultimately took the honours with a time of 1:25.104 minutes in a Lamborghini, leaving Fourie to settle for second place, 0.249 seconds off the pole time.
“Everything worked out great, and it was the perfect lap for us. That is not easy here at the Nürburgring, with all those kerbs. Thank you to the team for the great job, the car was super,” said Hirsiger, delighted with his first pole position in the ADAC GT Masters. Together with team-mate Finn Zulauf (21/Königstein im Taunus), he is approaching the race with a relaxed attitude, and is not worried about the potential battle with championship rival Fourie. “We know that we all drive fairly and it is not all about the first turn, but the overall result. Our long-run pace is super, and Finn and I are both great drivers – with that in mind, we can achieve great things.”
Fourie himself was surprised by his strong result in qualifying. “To be honest, we did not expect to be so far up the grid. The guys in the team have done a great job, as the car felt super from the very first lap,” said Fourie, who is in the thick of the title race together with Tim Zimmermann (29/Langenargen) in a BMW M4 GT3 Evo. However, he was keen to play down the battle with the Lamborghini. “They still look stronger than us, as was shown in qualifying. Despite that, we will obviously give it our all. If we are not able to win, then we want to be the best of the rest.”
Starting the race from third place will be Niklas Kalus (21/Duisburg) in a Ford Mustang GT3. He was 0.312 seconds off the pace at the home event for Haupt Racing Team, which is based in Drees. Rookie Victor Nielsen (19/DNK) caused a shock in fourth place. The Dane usually starts for FK Performance Motorsport in ADAC GT4 Germany, but was given the opportunity at the Nürburgring to contest his very first race weekend in a GT3 car. His fastest lap in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo was 0.327 seconds slower than that of pole-sitter Hirsiger. Emil Gjerdrum (1/NOR/Haupt Racing Team) completed the top five, 0.4 seconds off the top time in a second Ford Mustang GT3.
The first race of the weekend starts at 13:45 and is live on Joyn, ServusTV On and Youtube.com/ADACMotorsports.
