Double pole for Porsche in ADAC GT Masters at Lausitzring

• Mario Farnbacher secures pole position for Saturday’s race
• Martin Ragginger repeats pole position from previous year
• Highly competitive field with 19 cars covered by one second

Porsche drivers secured the top places on the grid in the two races on Saturday and Sunday during ADAC GT Masters qualifying at the Lausitzring. In qualifying, Mario Farnbacher (21, Germany/Farnbacher Racing) achieved pole position in the Porsche 911 for Race 1 on Saturday. n the second qualifying session, fellow Porsche driver Martin Ragginger (25, Austria/Tonino by Herberth Motorsport) followed suit, repeating his pole position from the previous year. The session was more hotly-contested than practically any other qualifying so far in the ADAC GT Masters 2013 season. The 19 fastest super sports cars in the second qualifying session were covered by just one second.

Porsche and Audi share front row in Saturday’s race

For quite some time during qualifying for Saturday’s race, pole position appeared to belong to Audi driver René Rast (26, Germany/Prosperia C Abt Racing), but then Farnbacher struck. The former ADAC Sports Foundation protégé beat Rast’s time by a marginal 0.011 seconds with just three minutes to go to the end of the session, thus securing his second pole position in the ADAC GT Masters. “It was a good lap, I went out and everything went well straightaway,” said Farnbacher with a grin. “The weekend here will be crucial in the title fight. Being up front is excellent, because, if we can secure a decent result, we might still be in with a chance of playing our part in the championship fight.”

Rast will be next to Farnbacher on the front row. Two more Porsche drivers share the second row. Christian Engelhart (26, Germany/Team Geyer & Weinig EDV – Schütz Motorsport), who secured a double victory last year at the Lausitzring, brought home his 911 ahead of Robert Renauer (28, Germany/Tonino powered by Herberth Motorsport) to claim P3 on the grid. Corvette driver Diego Alessi (41 Italy/Callaway Competition) will start in fifth place in front of Claudia Hürtgen (41, Germany/PIXUM Team Schubert) who will be in sixth position on the grid in the BMW Z4.

Ragginger achieves first ADAC GT Masters pole for Tonino by Herberth Motorsport

There was no way past Martin Ragginger in qualifying for Sunday’s race. The Porsche veteran warmed up over the course of one lap and then struck to secure best time on his second flying lap. Dominik Baumann (20, Austria/PIXUM Team Schubert) in the BMW Z4 and Dominik Schwager (36, Germany/Lambda Performance) in the Ford GT tried to beat the Austrian’s best time, as did Porsche works driver Nick Tandy (28, Great Britain/Farnbacher Racing), but ultimately they had to settle with grid positions behind Ragginger. “We knew that we would be very quick here at the Lausitzring and posted best time in practice,” said Ragginger after achieving his third pole position in the ADAC GT Masters. “This pole position is good for my team-mate’s title chances, Robert Renauer, who is ranked third in the drivers’ standings and is well placed this weekend with grid positions four and one.”

The qualifying session for Sunday’s race was hard-fought as 19 vehicles were covered by just one second and also saw quite a variety of cars in the top positions. With Corvette driver Mike Parisy (28, France/Callaway Competition) in fifth position ahead of ex-Formula 1 driver Markus Winkelhock (32, Germany/Prosperia C Abt Racing), super sports cars from five different manufacturers are in the top five starting positions.

Result: Qualifying 1 (top five)

1. Mario Farnbacher (Farnbacher Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1:21.281 mins
2. René Rast (Prosperia C Abt Racing, Audi R8 LMS ultra), +0.011 secs
3. Christian Engelhart (Team Geyer & Weinig EDV – Schütz Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R), +0.105 secs
4. Robert Renauer (Tonino powered by Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R), +0.180 secs
5. Diego Alessi (Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), +0.199 secs

Result: Qualifying 2 (top five):

1. Martin Ragginger (Tonino powered by Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1:20.610 mins
2. Dominik Baumann (PIXUM Team Schubert, BMW Z4 GT3), +0.146 secs
3. Dominik Schwager (Lambda Performance, Ford GT GT3), +0.334 secs
4. Nick Tandy (Farnbacher Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R), +0.433 secs
5. Mike Parisy (Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), +0.458 secs