Jöns and Martin claim first pole position of 2012 ADAC GT Masters season

• Christer Jöns takes new Audi R8 to first pole position
• Maxime Martin makes successful return to ADAC GT Masters
• First test of new Yokohama tyres
• Massive concentration of power, 16 vehicles covered by one second

Christer Jöns (24, Ingelheim) and Maxime Martin (26, Belgium) can be well pleased with a super start so far to the 2012 ADAC GT Masters season. The Audi R8 driver from Team Prosperia uhc speed and the BMW ALPINA driver will start from pole position in the first two races of the season in the ‘league of super sports car’ on Saturday and Sunday at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. “I won both races the last time I contested the ADAC GT Masters at Oschersleben, so I hope the series can continue like that,” says Martin, who is teamed with ADAC GT Masters defending champion Dino Lunardi (33, France).

Key facts, Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
Circuit length: 3.69 kilometres
Weather: cloudy, light showers, 8 degrees
Pole position Race 1: Christer Jöns (24, Ingelheim) Prosperia uhc speed Audi R8
Pole position Race 2: Maxime Martin (26, Belgium) ALPINA BMW ALPINA B6

Jöns secures first pole position of 2012 season

The first qualifying session of the 2012 season got underway with one small change; for the first time, the field of over 40 super sports car drivers had twice as much practice time, 40 minutes, than previously. Audi driver Christer Jöns did best in qualifying. Right at the beginning of the session, the university student claimed fastest time in the Prosperia uhc speed Audi R8. But as qualifying came to a close, Jöns found himself under pressure from both Sebastian Asch (25, from Ammerbuch / kfzteile24 MS RACING Team) in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and Robert Renauer (27, from Jedenhofen / FROGREEN CO2 neutral) in a Porsche 911 GT3 R. Asch came within a whisker – 0014 seconds – of the fastest time set by Jöns, but had to finally admit defeat by the narrowest of margins and will share the front row with the Audi on Saturday.

Renauer too was unsuccessful in preventing Jöns from securing his second pole position to date in the ADAC GT Masters and finds himself next to Corvette driver Andreas Wirth (27, from Heidelberg / Callaway) on the second row of the grid. Christian Engelhart (25, from Kösching /Team Geyer & Weinig /Schütz Motorsport) in a Porsche 911 GT3 R and ADAC GT Masters defending champion Dino Lunardi will start from fifth and sixth place. Jöns, speaking about his route to pole position: “Actually, I wanted to wait a little at the start of qualifying, but then it began to drizzle with rain and I went out. I was lucky with traffic and was also able to use the new YOKOHAMA tyres to good effect. I thought I wasn’t going to make it, but it went well in the end. What a great start to the season for the newly formed team of Prosperia uhc speed!”

Martin repeats last year’s pole for BMW ALPINA

ALPINA’s successful 2011 ADAC GT Masters season started with pole position at the Motorsport Arena, Oschersleben. Again in 2012, ALPINA have the chance of making a good beginning to the ADAC GT Masters with Maxime Martin, who secured pole in the bright green racing car for Sunday’s second race. The competition didn’t make claiming pole easy for the Belgian driver. The two-time ADAC GT Masters race winner came under pressure from Maximilian Götz (26, from Uffenheim/kfzteile24 MS RACING Team) in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 and Oschersleben specialist Frank Kechele (25, from Ulm /Callaway Competition) in a Corvette. 1997 Formula 1 world championship runner-up, Heinz Harald Frentzen (44, from Neuss /Callaway Competition), also had a shot at pole towards the end of practice in the Corvette but could not beat Martin’s time.

"It's a fantastic feeling to be starting from pole in the very first race of the season," said Martin who won his previous two outings in the ADAC GT Masters. "I've only competed once before in the ADAC GT Masters at Oschersleben. That was three years ago and I won both races. I'm hoping this run continues."

Frank Kechele will be starting alongside pole-sitter Maxime Martin in Sunday's race with Götz and Frentzen on Row 2. Porsche specialists Nick Tandy (27, GB / Team Geyer & Weinig / Schütz Motorsport) and Martin Ragginger (24, Austria) in the FACH AUTO TECH-Porsche 911 GT3 R occupy P5 and P6 on the grid.

New McLaren and Aston Martin challengers qualify in midfield

There were four debutants vying for attention in the first ADAC GT Masters race of the season at the Motorsport Arena in Oschersleben, including the spectacular new McLaren MP4-12C and the Aston Martin V12 Vantage from Great Britain. The fastest McLaren duo were 36-year-old Sascha Bert of Ober-Ramstadt and 23-year-old Luca Ludwig of Bonn (Gemballa Racing) who will be starting from P15 in the first race and P23 in the second. ADAC GT Masters runners-up Ferdinand (20) and Johannes Stuck (25), both from Austria, will be starting from P20 and P27 in the Young Driver Aston Martin. Despite qualifying only in the midfield, Johannes Stuck was sounding upbeat: “The car is still relatively new, and we made good progress on Friday.”