Poleposition in the "Hell".
BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS and BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert established excellent starting positions for the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring.
Augusto Farfus landed the number 26 BMW Z4 GT3 on pole position for BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS. The BMW DTM driver clocked a time of 8:17.394 minutes for the faster of his two qualifying laps on the iconic Nordschleife. This is the first pole position for the BMW Z4 GT3 since 2012 and the first time BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS has set the fastest qualifying time in the Eifel Mountains.
Jens Klingmann qualified third in the number 20 BMW Z4 GT3, fielded by BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert, closely followed by his team-mate Dirk Müller in the number 19 car. Maxime Martin was sixth fastest in BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS’s second BMW Z4 GT3. The fifth BMW in the Top-30 Qualifying session – that of the Walkenhorst Motorsport team – qualified 26th with Felipe Férnandez Laser at the wheel.
In the BMW M235i Racing Cup class, pole position went to the “Eifelblitz” car: Michael Schrey, Max Partl, Uwe Ebertz and Jörg Weidinger start the race from first place in the number 303 BMW M235i Racing. The 43rd staging of the endurance classic gets underway at 16:00 on Saturday.
Reactions to Top-30 Qualifying for the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):
“Congratulations to Augusto Farfus and BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS. Augusto and the Nordschleife have a very special relationship. To improve by five tenths of a second on his second lap is worthy of the utmost respect. Our other qualifying drivers also did a great job. Having four cars on the first three rows of the grid puts us in a very good starting position for the race. However, our opposition is extremely strong, as we saw both yesterday and today. Although it is nice to be right at the front of the grid, the race is not decided at the start, but at the end of the 24 hours.”
Augusto Farfus (BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS, car number 26, 1st):
“It is great to be on pole position, and to have completed two clear laps of the Nordschleife without any traffic. That is an awesome experience. However, the starting position is not the be all and end all at a 24-hour race. We know that we have a strong car and an equally strong team. Hopefully we can capitalise on that in the race and be just as successful as we have been in qualifying.”
Jens Klingmann (BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert, car number 20, 3rd):
“Augusto showed today that he is one of the fastest drivers on the Nordschleife. Congratulations to him on the pole position. I am also very happy to have been able to convert the speed of the car into a very good starting position in the Top-30 Qualifying. That is a very good starting position for the car, because you are able to keep out of the close battles in the middle of the pack in the first few corners. Despite this, a 24-hour race is obviously very long – and we have not won anything yet.”
Dirk Müller (BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert, car number 19, 4th):
“I am very happy. Fourth place on the grid is a fantastic result. To have two completely clear laps of the Nordschleife – that only happens very rarely. Therefore, I really enjoyed qualifying in the BMW Z4 GT3. I would like to thank the team for providing me with a perfect car. Four BMWs in the top six: that is a great basis for tomorrow’s race.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS, car number 25, 6th):
“Unfortunately I lost some time overtaking a Porsche on my second flying lap. Despite that, sixth place on the grid is absolutely fine. We can be happy with that. After all, this is a 24-hour race. An awful lot can happen. One thing is clear: our BMW Z4 GT3 has the pace. I am looking forward to the race. Anything is possible.”
BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert
No 19 BMW Z4 GT3, Dirk Werner (DE), Marco Wittmann (DE), Dirk Müller (DE), Alexander Sims (GB) – 4th
No 20 BMW Z4 GT3, Claudia Hürtgen (DE), Dominik Baumann (AT), Jens Klingmann (DE), Martin Tomczyk (DE) – 3rd
BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS
No 25 BMW Z4 GT3, Maxime Martin (BE), Lucas Luhr (DE), Richard Westbrook (GB), Markus Palttala (FI) – 6th
No 26 BMW Z4 GT3, Dirk Adorf (DE), Augusto Farfus (BR), Nick Catsburg (NL), Jörg Müller (DE) – 1st
Walkenhorst Motorsport powered by Dunlop
No 17 BMW Z4 GT3, Felipe Laser (DE), Michela Cerruti (IT), John Edwards (US), Daniel Keilwitz (DE) – 26th
No 18 BMW Z4 GT3, Henry Walkenhorst (DE), Ralf Oeverhaus (DE), Christian Bollrath (DE), Stefan Aust (DE) – 36th
BMW M235i Racing media car
No 235 BMW M235i Racing, Bernd Ostmann (DE), Christian Gebhardt (DE), Victor Bouveng (SE), Harald Grohs (DE) – 2nd (SP 8T)