Ferrari beat BMW by one thousandth to pole for Nürburgring 24h Qualifiers race two

Written by Owen Bradley

Credit: Luna Maas

Thierry Vermeulen put the No.45 Rinaldi Ferrari to pole position ahead of the second 24h qualifiers race this afternoon, beating the No.23 BMW squad by a narrow margin of just one thousandth of a second. Meanwhile, F1 star Max Verstappen, sits in fifth place.

As the track dried out, following some overnight rain, the drivers quickly got up to speed around the Nordschleife.

Vermeulen set the fastest lap time aboard the No.45 Rinaldi Ferrari, followed up by the No.23 Gamota Racing BMW of David Jahn, who was just one thousandth of a second behind Vermeulen in one of the closest qualifying results in the NLS. This is particularly impressive, given the BMW team's Pro-Am status, especially after securing pole position yesterday.

Christopher Haase rounded out the podium places, as the No.16 Audi squad will start from third on the grid, just under a second off from pole position. Thomas Preining put the No.911 Porsche team in fourth, albeit a full two seconds down on pole, and a second back from Haase in third.

Credit: VLN Presse

Lucas Auer put the No.3 Verstappen Winward Racing Mercedes in fifth place, an overall improvement on pace for the team after qualifying in sixth place on outright pace yesterday. Auer went three tenths quicker than the team did yesterday, and this time they will not be carrying a penalty - meaning they will start inside the Top 5 legitimately.

Auer is expected to start the race this afternoon, before the four-time F1 champion, Max Verstappen, gets back behind the wheel to likely close out the race. Despite the overall pace improvement, the No.3 Mercedes is still a solid three seconds off Vermeulen's pole lap. Verstappen and Auer will have some work to do this afternoon, if they hope to secure the outright victory, however they can take a few positives ahead of the race, as they are also the leading Mercedes car.

Adam Christodoulou slotted the No.26 Prosport Mercedes in sixth place, just a couple of tenths behind Auer. Evidently, all of the Mercedes cars are struggling for pace slightly in qualifying.

Rounding out the Top 10, was the No.11 Mercedes of Jay Mo Hartling, who went seventh fastest, just an extra few tenths adrift of the No.26 Mercedes in front. Tobias Muller went eighth fastest in the No.48 Porsche, another couple of tenths adrift, as the No.80 Mercedes of Luca Stolz went ninth fastest, beating the No.5 Porsche of Gabriele Piana, who rounded out the leading 10 cars.