Kiano Blum (19/AUT/Haupt Racing Team) is the man of the morning: the rookie secured pole position at the Dekra Lausitzring. He waited patiently in the pit lane at the wheel of his Ford Mustang GT3, before eventually setting the fastest time of 1:20.346 minutes towards the end of qualifying. “We went out late and gave the tyres time, because when the asphalt is so hot, you can only get one flying lap in. We put everything into that one lap, and fortunately it worked out well for us,” said a beaming Blum, who sent a clear message to the opposition. “We have been on pole, we have finished runner-up and third in races – all that is missing is the win. We know that BMW and Lamborghini are very strong here, particularly in the longer races. However, we will get the maximum out of our package, and do our very best to make today our first race win.”
The Dekra Lausitzring woke to summery temperatures of 27 degrees during ADAC GT Masters qualifying. Most of the drivers waited until the end of the session to post their fastest laps, as was the case with Sandro Holzem (22/Polch/Schubert Motorsport). He qualified second fastest in his BMW, 0.095 seconds slower than Blum. Third place went to fellow BMW racer Tim Zimmermann (29/Langenargen/FK Performance Motorsport). The driver currently second in the table missed out on pole by 0.206 seconds.
Colin Bönighausen (21/Isernhagen) will start from fourth on the grid. The best-placed Porsche 911 GT3 R was 0.304 seconds off the pace. His team Razoon – more than Racing won both of last year’s races at the Dekra Lausitzring with his team-mate Leo Pichler (24/AUT), and could be looking at another strong result later today.
Rounding out the top five was championship leader Felix Hirsiger (28/CHE/Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport). Unlike most of his rivals, he took to the track very early in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2. “I am basically happy, as we are roughly where we expected to be. The session was a decent one, and I was at the limit of what was possible,” said Hirsiger. “I put a fast lap together, but unfortunately I was blocked by another car on my fastest attempt. Otherwise, we might have made it into the top three.”
Excitement is guaranteed in the first endurance race of the ADAC GT Masters season at the Dekra Lausitzring. There promises to be plenty of action, with temperatures soaring above 30 degrees, two pit stops including driver changeovers, refuelling and a tyre change. The threat of thunderstorms during the race will also pose additional challenges for the teams and drivers. Anyone unable to be at the circuit can watch the full race from 15:10 on Joyn, ServusTV On and youtube.com/ADACMotorsports .
