There was no beating Pavel Lefterov (27/BUL, Konrad Motorsport) in the second qualifying session of the Prototype Cup Germany. The Bulgarian was 0.456 seconds faster than Riccardo Leone Cirelli (17/ITA, BWT Mücke Motorsport) on the sprint circuit at the Nürburgring. Maxim Dirickx (21/BEL, Aust Motorsport) qualified third, ahead of Zino-Ferret Fahlke (18/Hergiswil, Konrad Motorsport) and Alexzander Kristiansson (25/SWE, Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport), however he was subsequently relegated three grid positions for crossing the white line at the exit from the pit lane.
“I am thrilled with my first pole position in the Prototype Cup Germany,” said Lefterov after qualifying. “My team did a good job, the car is improving all the time. It is also nice to see that our sister car, with Zino at the wheel, was also fast and will start from the second row.” Lefterov and his partner Danny Soufi (22/USA, Konrad Motorsport) won yesterday’s opening race at the Nürburgring. They now hold a 48-point lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship. Were they to score two points more than Mattis Pluschkell (21/Elmenhorst) and Maksymilian Angelard (18/POL, both BWT Mücke Motorsport) in this afternoon’s race, they would be crowned champions with races still to come.
Second place in qualifying went to Cirelli, although his session was by no means trouble-free. “I adjusted the brake balance at the start, but it was not right. As a result, I made a mistake under braking early in the session and ruined the tyres. Without that issue, I don’t think the gap to Pavel would have been so large. Maybe we might even have taken pole position. It is not so much finishing second that frustrates me, but rather the fact that I made that mistake.”
Dirickx was another driver left regretting a mistake. “Our speed was good and the car was better than yesterday. Unfortunately, however, I crossed the white line at the pit lane exit. I wanted to overtake another car and didn’t think I would hit the line. It is obviously frustrating, because the battle for second place in the Drivers’ Championship and the lead in the Junior competition is getting closer all the time.” Dirickx will now start the race from sixth place on the grid, with Fahlke, Kristiansson and Angelard each moving up a position.
Jérémy Siffert (22/SUI, Badischer Motorsport Club), Mikkel C. Johansen (38/DEN, Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport) and Thomas Ambiel (45/Eppingen, Rinaldi Racing) followed in positions seven to nine. Trophy driver Ambiel was not that disappointed with his session: “I improved compared to yesterday, and feel much happier in the car. Yesterday, we tried something with the set-up, which turned out not to be a good idea in the race. However, I am still learning and it is all valuable experience that can only make me stronger.”
