Mega lap by Pittard puts Mercedes on pole for NLS 3
- Benjamin Crundwell
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Qualifying for the Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy started at 08:30 in Germany this morning. The session spanned a 90 minute period, but the No.312 Posche 982 Turbo had only made it five minutes in when its driver beached the car before reaching the Nordshcleife.
Fortunately the car returned to the track near the end of the session, setting the second quickest time in the SP3T class.
The first representative order was available half an hour into the session, David Piitard set a blistering lap time of 7:52.393 to take provisional pole with the No.47 KCMG Mercedes. The No.77 Schubert Motorsport BMW was second and the No.33 Pro-Am KKrämer Racing Audi was third.
The Audi's joy didn't last long, as the car went up in smoke on the Döttinger Höhe, the mechanics have a race of their own now to prepare the car for the race at 12:00 (11:00 BST).
The silver lining for the German team was that they kept third place, due to very few cars improving at the end of the session, as code 60s prevented quick lap times.
Pittard's No.47 KCMG Mercedes stayed fastest, the Japanese driver will share the pole sitting car with Jesse Krohn, Edoardo Liberati and Kamui Kobayashi. The No.77 Schubert motorsport BMW of Marco Wittmann, Phillip Eng and Robin Frijns will take the second spot on the front row, from the No.33 KKrämer Racing Audi.
The second place Pro-Am car, the No.23 Gamota Racing BMW, was fourth overall, and did well to be only a handful of seconds behind the No.77 which uses a more evolved version of the BMW.
The No.7 Lamborghini Huracan prevented any Porsche's making the top five, a rare site on the Nürburgring. More surprisingly, the lead Porsche was the No.5 Am car raced by Black Falcon. The No.44 Falken Motorsports Porsche could only do as well as seventh, and the No.911 Manthey car was even further back in 15th, behind two Cup 2 cars and two AT 1 cars.
It could have been worse for the German manufacturer however, as the returning BMW Z4 GT3 SP9 Am car failed to complete a competitive lap, and finished 43rd overall.
The race will start at 12:00 local time (11:00 BST), streamed live on YouTube.
Qualifying Top 5
No.47 KCMG Mercedes-AMG GT3; 7:52.393
No.77 Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO; 7:54.597
No.33 KKrämer Racing Audi R8 GT3 EVO II; 7:57.634
No.23 Gamota Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO; 7:59.100
No.7 Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3; 8:01.664
