Corvette and BMW on pole after gamble with weather

• ADAC GT Masters titleholder Keilwitz on pole in Corvette for Saturday’s race
• Baumann secures maiden pole position for BMW Z4 in the ADAC GT Masters
• Ex-Formula 1 driver Alguersuari takes grid position twelve, bad luck for World Rally Champion Ogier

Daniel Keilwitz (24, Germany / Callaway Competition) and Dominik Baumann (21, Austria / PIXUM Team Schubert) secured the best grid positions for the races on Saturday and Sunday (both races live on kabel eins from 11:45 am onwards) as they took a gamble with the weather at the Lausitzring. A rain front over the circuit produced a very interesting qualifying session at the third race weekend of the ADAC GT Masters. In still dry conditions, Keilwitz secured pole position for the race on Saturday in his Corvette. Baumann in his BMW Z4 kept his nerve in qualifying for the race on Sunday as rain began to fall and secured his maiden pole position in the ADAC GT Masters. The two qualifying sessions at the Lausitzring were exciting and very evenly matched. In both races, super sports cars from five different manufacturers will occupy the top six starting positions. Due to technical problems, World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier (30, France / Prosperia C Abt Racing) could only post a few laps in practice on his guest drive in an Audi R8 and will start from grid position 19 on Sunday.

Qualifying 1 for Race 1 (Saturday):

ADAC GT Masters defending champion Keilwitz dominated qualifying for Saturday’s race. Still on the dry track but as rain clouds gathered, the Corvette driver went into P1 after a hectic start. “Our strategy worked really well, I improved my time a bit on each lap,” said Keilwitz after his fourth pole position in the ADAC GT Masters. “Pole position is great, as we didn’t think we could do it. The very warm temperatures also helped us. Our Corvette likes warm weather.”

Philip Frommenwiler (24, Switzerland / Farnbacher Racing) in the Porsche 911 looked to have second place in the bag until last year’s winner at the Lausitzring Martin Ragginger (26, Austria / GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport) hit back on the last lap to take P2. Frommenwiler starts from the second row, together with Kelvin van der Linde in the Audi R8 (17, South Africa / Prosperia C Abt Racing). The BMW Z4 of Claudia Hürtgen (42, Germany / PIXUM Team Schubert) and the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG with Maximilian Buhk (21, Germany / HTP Motorsport) head up the third row.

Qualifying 2 for Race 2 (Sunday):

The onset of rain in the second qualifying session that determines the starting grid for Sunday’s race obviously made conditions difficult. As drizzle fell, Baumann scrapped for pole position with Norbert Siedler (31, Austria / TONINO Team Herberth) in the Porsche 911 and René Rast (27, Germany / Prosperia C. Abt Racing) in the Audi R8. Baumann secured his maiden pole position in the ADAC GT Masters when the red flag came out after eleven minutes and interrupted qualifying due to Nicki Thiim (25, Denmark / Prosperia C Abt Racing) skidding off. Conditions subsequently deteriorated quite significantly. “We sure felt good after practice, and then we found a terrific setup for the qualifying. But nevertheless, it was mentally challenging to step on the gas in these conditions, because my windscreen was wet through but the tarmac was still dry,” said Baumann with a chuckle.

Jeroen Bleekemolen (32, Netherlands / Callaway Competition) clinched second place in a Corvette and will start next to Baumann in the BMW. Rast will be in grid position three, while Siedler takes fourth place at the start of Sunday’s race. Thiim will be in P5 in the Audi. Maximilian Götz (28, Germany / HTP Motorsport) in the Mercedes-Benz will be in grid position six at the start.

Real challenge for World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier

A challenge in both ADAC GT Masters races lies ahead of World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier, who is enjoying a guest drive in the Audi R8 with partner Winkelhock (33, Germany / Prosperia C Abt Racing). After technical problems in free practice, Ogier was only able to drive five laps in total before qualifying and so used the session which was wet at times to continue to get to grips with the Lausitzring and the Audi R8. It was only enough for grid position 19, though, due to his lack of experience. Winkelhock starts from twelfth position in the first race on Saturday.

“Qualifying was a real revelation to me, as I was only able to post a couple of laps in free practice,” said Ogier. “I’d obviously been hoping for a better start number, but it wasn’t easy with just a few laps experience. Still, I’ve had a lot of fun in the Audi R8 and I’m getting to know the car better with every lap. We’ll now just have to wait and see what tomorrow’s race brings.”

Ex-Formula 1 driver Jaime Alguersuari (24, Spain / ROWE RACING) was luckier on his first day of practice in the ADAC GT Masters. Alguersuari, who has contested 46 grands prix, will start Race 1 from ninth position and Race 2 from P12 along with team-mate Nico Bastian (24, Germany).