The Prototype Cup Germany drivers kicked off a glorious sunny morning at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg with their first qualifying of the weekend. Riccardo Leone Cirelli (17/ITA) and his team BWT Mücke Motorsport coped best with the former Formula 1 circuit and clocked the fastest time of the session. Oscar Tunjo (29/COL, Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport) and Danny Soufi (21/USA, Konrad Motorsport) will start Saturday’s race behind the Italian teenager in second and third place on the grid. Qualifying was brought to an early end after Thomas Ambiel (45/Eppingen, Rinaldi Racing) came off the track and ended up in a gravel bed.
Cirelli’s first pole position of the season comes at a circuit, at which he won two of last year’s three races alongside Julien Apothéloz. “I put together a good lap,” said the talented youngster. “I had a good position on the track and am also very happy with the set-up of my Duqueine. I have to say a big thank you to my team for that, as we had tried out a few things and then had to decide on the best solution.” Cirelli seems to enjoy Hockenheim, having also secured a pole position here last year. “I think Hockenheim just suits my driving style.”
Tunjo, who finds himself in second place again, was on course to better his fastest time when qualifying was suspended. “At the start of the session, I had to break in the brakes, which we had replaced beforehand. I was unlucky with the timing of the red flag, but Riccardo and Mücke also did a good job.” Just 0.032 seconds behind Tunjo, championship leader Soufi had to settle for third place. “Our car is good, but unfortunately I made a mistake on my fastest lap. Otherwise it would probably have put us on top. I then let the tyres cool down for too long before my second flying lap, which meant they were not back to the ideal temperature in turn one. The car definitely has the pace for first place.”
Qualifying was full of plenty of twists and turns. Five minutes into the session, Sven Barth (44/Eberbach, Aust Motorsport) had his nose in front. However, he was soon replaced at the top of the timings sheet by Soufi. Next to join the battle for first place was Cirelli, with Tunjo was also poised to pounce. The Columbian was the first to dip below 1:35 minutes, before Cirelli forced him off top spot again. With a good two minutes of the 15-minute session remaining, Ambiel skidded into the gravel bed in his Duqueine, resulting in a red flag and qualifying being aborted. “I made a mistake,” he admitted. “I was faster than on the previous lap, which meant the braking point was no longer right. However, up until that point I was happy and improving all the time.”
Ambiel ended qualifying in eighth place as the top Trophy driver. Ahead of him, Valentino Catalano (19/Westheim, Badischer Motorsport Club) secured fourth place, with Barth fifth ahead of Maksymilian Angelard (17/POL, BWT Mücke Motorsport) and Jacob Erlbacher (24/Böblingen, Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport). Michael Herich (47/Brühl, Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport), who was unable to complete a single lap in yesterday’s free practice, followed in ninth place.
