Meggle and Georgi set fastest times in qualifying at the Lausitzring

• Pole-setters promise exciting fourth round of the 2016 season
• Matthias Meggle posts fastest time in Standard class in the final second
• Tim Georgi tops GP category

Klettwitz: The third race weekend of the ADAC Northern Europe Cup (NEC) at the Lausitzring took place in pleasant weather conditions. After the three free practice sessions on Friday, the contestants in the newly established series were competing against each other in the two Saturday qualifying sessions. Matthias Meggle (15, GER) and Tim Georgi (15, GER) were fastest in the Standard and GP class respectively.

The first session on Saturday was marked by cooler conditions, and most riders were able to improve their lap times in the afternoon. Meggle was fastest in the Standard class, setting a lap of 01:51.209 minutes in the final seconds of Q2.

The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé was only narrowly ahead of his closest pursuers. ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Toni Erhard (15, GER) was a slender 0.303 seconds behind his fellow countryman and 0.388 seconds ahead of Oliver König (14, CZE). Philipp Freitag (18, GER) and Dirk Geiger (13, GER) qualified fourth and fifth in the Standard class.

In the GP class, Georgi was head and shoulders above the rest. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé from Berlin set a lap time of 01:48.962 minutes to secure pole position, albeit in the first qualifying session. In the afternoon, Georgi had to settle for a fastest lap of 01:49.317 minutes, but still emerged as the fastest contestant in the highly competitive ADAC NEC line-up.

Ernst Dubbink (27, NED) was fastest in the second qualifying and now starts from P2 behind Georgi. Jason Dupasquier (14, SUI) qualified third in the GP class ahead of Dennis Koopman (19, NED) and Maximilian Kofler (15, AUT).

The fourth race of the ADAC NEC season starts on Sunday at 11:05. The venue is the Lausitzring and the distance is 14 laps.

Comments from the front-runners

Matthias Meggle (15, GER), fastest, ADAC NEC Standard:
“I’m certainly satisfied with this qualifying result. We have gradually improved. The first qualifying was bad, I had big problems with the suspension, but we definitely made progress before the second qualifying session. I’m satisfied, and I feel good. I’m glad that I qualified for the front of the grid, because that’s something I haven’t managed before. Now I’m hoping to get my first race win and be able to extend my lead in the championship. That’s my target. Thanks to my Dynavolt Intact GP Junior Team for the great job they have done so far this weekend.”

Tim Georgi (15, GER), fastest, ADAC NEC GP:
“The first qualifying session went really well for us. We found a great setup which enabled me to feel really good on the bike. It also meant we were able to set very good lap times. I had been hoping for something better in the second qualifying, but unfortunately we were unable to raise our game, so this qualifying was a bit disappointing for me. I’m not totally satisfied. But in any case, I have the pole position, which of course is a good starting point for the race tomorrow. For us, though, nothing less than a victory will do. We want to score the full 25 points and put in a good performance.”