Pole for Corvette and second place on grid for Lucas Auer at Red Bull Ring

• Jules Gounon quickest in first qualifying at the Red Bull Ring
• Lucas Auer in the Mercedes-AMG narrowly misses pole position
• SPORT1 will broadcast Saturday's race live at 1.00pm

Spielberg: In a thrilling race against the clock at the Red Bull Ring, Corvette driver Jules Gounon (22, F, Callaway Competition) beat off competition from DTM championship leader Lucas Auer (22, A, BWT Mücke Motorsport) in the Mercedes AMG. This was the Frenchman's first ever pole position in the ADAC GT Masters. Local favourite Auer qualified on the front row on his debut in the Super Sports Car League. SPORT1 will broadcast the fifth ADAC GT Masters race of the season live and in full at 1.00pm. The race can also be watched as an online livestream at sport1.de and adac.de/motorsport.

Following overnight rain, conditions at the track steadily improved as it dried out during the 20-minute session, affording better grip. The lead changed hands several times on a track which was completely dry by the end. Gounon and Auer were the main players in the scrap for pole, but the Frenchman finally won through. Gounon: "Our car was very good. It was a tough fight with Lucas Auer, who piled on the pressure. The team cheered me on over the radio, and I pulled out all the stops to beat him. Many thanks to everyone at Callaway. I'm delighted to have secured my maiden pole."

Auer made a last-ditch effort to snatch pole position, but a small slip prevented any improvement in time. Still, the Tyrolean made a strong start to his first ADAC GT Masters weekend by securing P2 on the grid to the huge delight of the home fans. Championship leader Robert Renauer (32, DEU, Precote Herberth Motorsport) in the best Porsche 911 took third place from Sven Barth (36, DEU, RWT Racing) in the second Corvette in the field. BMW junior Ricky Collard (20, GB, BMW Team Schnitzer) placed fifth, followed by Luca Stolz (21, DEU, Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED) in the second-best Mercedes-AMG.