Bentley and Ford on pole for ADAC GT Masters finale at Hockenheim

• Stolz picks up pole position number two for Bentley in the ADAC GT Masters
• Kechele claims P1 on the grid in return of the Ford GT
• Promising situation for championship leaders Ludwig and Asch

Hockenheim: The last two pole positions of the 2015 ADAC GT Masters have gone to Bentley and Ford. Luca Stolz (20, GER, Bentley Team HTP) driving a Bentley Continental secured first place on the grid for Saturday’s race. Pole position for the final race of this year’s Super Sports Car League on Sunday went to Frank Kechele (29, GER, Lambda Performance) in the Ford GT which was making its comeback after a two-year absence. For championship leaders Luca Ludwig (26, GER) and Sebastian Asch (29, GER, both Team Zakspeed), qualifying went according to plan. Their Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG will start the two races from P3 and P2 respectively, in each case ahead of closest pursuer Dominik Baumann (22, AUT, BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert) in the BMW Z4. The Austrian will have the support of DTM star Bruno Spengler (32, CAN) at Hockenheim; they will be lining up sixth and fifth on the grid. “After this qualifying result, we can sleep well tonight,” said Asch. “The starting position for both races is good. Baumann’s BMW is behind us each time. The main thing is to put in a good performance on Saturday and win the title. If that doesn’t succeed, we still have the race on Sunday to wrap it up.” SPORT1 will be showing both of the two final races at Hockenheim. The live broadcasts on Saturday and Sunday commence at 13:00 CEST.

Qualifying 1 for the race on Saturday

Stolz secured the best grid position for the penultimate race of the campaign in a hard-fought qualifying session, with supercars from six different marques occupying the top six positions. He took his second pole of the season in the Bentley Continental and will be contemplating the sight of all three rival title contenders in his rear-view mirror on Saturday. Stolz beat Christian Engelhart (28, GER, GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport) in the Porsche 911 by 0.087 seconds to first place on the grid shortly before the end of the session. Asch, who leads the championship standings, and Rahel Frey (29, SUI, YACO Racing) in an Audi R8 will start the race from the second row. Stolz: “I started the season on pole, and now I’m in pole position again in the finale. There’s a certain irony to that. This pole is great, because we’ve suffered some setbacks in qualifying recently. The goal is to win the race from pole position, but we’ll have to get through 60 minutes of racing to achieve that.”
Spengler in the BMW Z4 took fifth in his first qualifying session in the ADAC GT Masters. Nico Verdonck (29, BEL, Lambda Performance) in the Ford GT will start the race next to him. DTM ace Spengler was satisfied with his first outing in the ADAC GT Masters: “It was a great day, and I learned a lot. It was important to get accustomed to the tyres that are used in the ADAC GT Masters. I’m satisfied with grid position five. It would have been super to qualify further up the field, but we’ve secured a decent grid position, and now we have to take maximum points from both races.”

Qualifying 2 for the race on Sunday

Kechele made an impressive return to the ADAC GT Masters in qualifying for the race on Sunday. The Ford man, who has notched up more pole positions in the series than anyone else, set a new ADAC GT Masters record in qualifying as he secured his ninth pole position after a two-year absence from the Super Sports Car League. “We left Hockenheim with a double victory two years ago, but I’ve certainly not forgotten how to race in the meantime. Conditions were good, and the car ran extremely well. I’m very happy. Pole position feels really good.”

Ludwig in the Mercedes-Benz will line up next to Kechele, while the two Audi R8s of Edward Sandström (36, SWE, kfzteile24 MS RACING) and Nicki Thiim (26, DEN, C.Abt Racing) will be on the second row. Daniel Keilwitz (26, GER, Callaway Competition), who was a double winner last year at Hockenheim in his Corvette, will start from P5 on the grid in front of Baumann in the BMW. Klaus Bachler is ranked third in the standings in a Porsche 911 and also still has a chance of winning the title. He will be in P7 on Sunday for the start of the last 60-minute race of the season.

Result: Qualifying 1 for the race on Saturday (Top 6)

1. Luca Stolz (Bentley Team HTP, Bentley Continental GT3), 01:39.598 mins
2. Christian Engelhart (GW IT Racing Schütz Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R), +0.087 sec
3. Sebastian Asch (Team Zakspeed, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), +0.098 sec
4. Rahel Frey (YACO Racing, Audi R8 LMS ultra), +0.227 sec
5. Bruno Spengler (BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert, BMW Z4 GT3), +0.248 sec
6. Nico Verdonck (Lambda Performance, Ford GT GT3), +0.324 sec

Result: Qualifying 2 for the race on Sunday (Top 6)

1. Frank Kechele (Lambda Performance, Ford GT GT3), 01:38.916 mins
2. Luca Ludwig (Team Zakspeed, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), +0.376 sec
3. Edward Sandström (kfzteile24 MS RACING, Audi R8 LMS), +0.577 sec
4. Nicki Thiim (C.Abt Racing, Audi R8 LMS ultra), +0.613 sec
5. Daniel Keilwitz (Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), +0.657 sec
6. Dominik Baumann (BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert, BMW Z4 GT3), +0.694 sec