Qualifying for the first race at the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers provided fans and competitors with a bit of extra excitement. Just over a quarter of an hour after the teams had started qualifying in perfect conditions that morning, race control had already brought out the red flag: the #39 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO had gone off the track in the Fuchsröhre section, causing extensive damage to the crash barriers. The session was interrupted for around 40 minutes to allow for the necessary repairs, leaving 70 minutes remaining to set the fastest time. The fastest time of 8:09.488 minutes was set by the Pro-Am drivers Anzal Zsigo / Moritz Kranz / David Jahn in the #23 BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Alongside the pole-sitters, another Pro-Am team – Kenneth Heyer / Jay Mo Härtling / Jannes Fittje in the #11 Mercedes-AMG GT3 – will start from the front row. Row two is shared by Nirei Fukuzumi / Naoya Gamo / Jesse Krohn / David Pittard (Mercedes-AMG GT3 #47) and Patrick Assenheimer / Tobias Müller / Dylan Pereira (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo 26).
#11 Heyer / Härtling / Fittje (Mercedes-AMG GT3)
10:44 am Janis Fittje: “We had a good day of testing yesterday and now a bit of luck. It’s always a bit of a gamble on the Nordschleife. But it’s pretty wild out there when everyone heads out after a red flag and everyone wants to set a time. Now let’s see if we can hold on to second place. But I’d like to see the team get it, because they deserve it. They work really hard. We don’t have the massive budget like all the works teams, but we make up for it with passion.”
#16 Haase / Sims / Green (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II)
11:05 am Christopher Haase: “I’m not 100 per cent satisfied. We’ve been struggling a bit with the balance since yesterday. We’re now trying something for the race to make the rear axle a bit more stable. That’s currently our main limiting factor.”
#23 Zsigo / Kranz / Jahn (BMW M4 GT3 EVO)
10:16 am currently leads the timesheets with a lap time of 8:09.488 mins.
11:02 am David Jahn: “I’m thrilled and very happy. We really got into our stride during the first NLS races and today we were able to fully demonstrate our potential.”
#39 Walkenhorst / Hantke / Buchardt / Jansen (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3)
08:45 am crashed coming out of the Fuchsröhre. To allow for the necessary repairs, race control has red-flagged the session for 50 minutes.
09:04 am Jörg Breuer, Team Principal at Walkenhorst Motorsport, on the crash: “That was, of course, only a mediocre start to the day. But Andres [Buchardt] is fine. It was probably a classic driving error. He hit the kerb in the Fuchsröhre and then lost control of the car. The front is quite badly damaged and it looks as though the chassis has taken a bit of a knock too. Let’s see what it looks like when the car gets back here.”
#77 Weerts / de Wilde (BMW M4 GT3 EVO)
10:46 am driving slowly on the Döttinger Höhe.
#80 Engel / Schiller / Stolz (Mercedes-AMG GT3)
10:32 am Maro Engel: “This is my first race following the cancellation of the NLS 1. It’s fun working with the team, with Fabian and with Luca. Our aim is to prepare for the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Of course, we also want to do as well as possible here. But above all, the preparation for the 24-hour race is the priority.”
#275 Geisler / Harris (BMW 318ti (E36))
09:04 am is towed back to the paddock following a technical fault.
10:27 am is positioned right at the exit of the pit lane.
#830 Basseng / Lauck / Bastian / Azcona (Hyundai Elantra N TCR)
10:14 am Nico Bastian goes off the track and has to drive through the gravel trap. However, he is able to continue.