Nicolas Schöll (Allied Racing) and Nico Menzel (Team Macrix Software by RN Vision STS) claimed pole positions for the two GT4 Sprint Cup Europe races. Schöll came out on top in the first part of qualifying, with Menzel securing pole for the second race in the second part of qualifying on the 4.574 kilometers long Hockenheimring.
Austria’s Nicolas Schöll claims pole for Race 1
Qualifying took place in very un-October-like weather with high temperatures and bright sunshine. Young Austrian Nicolas Schöll (1:48.872) coped best with the conditions and moved into first place on his second timed lap. None of the other drivers was capable of breaking into the 1:48s and after 17 minutes Schöll and Allied Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR was still almost four tenths clear of the next competitor.
Selleslagh Racing Team’s Gilles Magnus qualified his Mercedes-AMG GT4 in second place, 0.389 seconds behind Schöll. Gabriele Piana was next up, ahead of fellow BMW drivers Max Koebolt and Nico Menzel. Schöll’s teammate Hendrik Still will start tomorrow’s race from sixth on the grid. Tim Heinemann, Razvan Umbrarescu, Bas Schouten and Henri Kauppi complete the grid.
Nico Menzel takes pole for Race 2 with fastest time of the day
In Qualifying 2 it was Nico Menzel who claimed pole position with a near-perfect lap. The BMW Motorsport Junior set the fastest lap of the day (1:48.594), beating Gilles Magnus by three tenths of a second. Max Koebolt and Nicolas Schöll were only a couple of hundredths behind Magnus to secure their places on the second row for Sunday’s race, with Tim Heinemann and Gabriele Piana qualifying on the third row.
Razvan Umbrarescu and Hendrik Still qualified seventh and eighth, both within one second of the fastest time of Menzel, while Bas Schouten and Henri Kauppi ended the session in ninth and tenth place. With gaps this close between the drivers, an exciting sprint race is in prospect.
The first race of the GT4 Sprint Cup Europe will get underway at 15:25 local time and will be broadcasted live on european.gt4series.com/live.
DRIVER QUOTES
Nicolas Schöll #41 Allied Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 CS MR: “It was a really good lap. I found a gap immediately, the car felt really good and the speed is definitely there. We are very competitive for tomorrow. I will try to get a good start and pull away immediately and get a gap, but we’ll see what happens.”
Nico Menzel #110 Team Macrix Software by RN Vision STS BMW M4 GT4: “The car was mega, especially in Q2. The track changed quite a lot, so I was very surprised. In Q1 I messed it up a bit, but I can’t change that. So we’ll start P5 and P1. It was one of the best laps I’ve ever done, now we have to convert the good qualifying into a race win.”
Source. SRO Motorsports Group
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