Jan Marschalkowski and Finn Zulauf were unbeatable in the two ADAC GT4 Germany qualifications at the Red Bull Ring
In the two consecutive qualifications at the fifth race weekend of the ADAC GT4 Germany at the Red Bull Ring, the competition was extremely close and therefore extremely exciting. Due to a constantly drying asphalt strip, the track became continuously faster during the sessions – and so the best times were set at the end of each session.
In Q1, Jan Marschalkowski in the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 from EastSide Motorsport finally came out on top with a time of 1:37.499 minutes. “I finally got the breakthrough. It feels really good,” beamed Marschalkowski, who shares the British car with Philipp Gogollok, about his first pole position in the ADAC GT4 Germany.
“We’ve worked really hard as a team this year. Today we got it right. So we’re all really happy. We’re hoping for dry weather in the race. Then we’ll be very competitive. The qualifying was not easy. It was a matter of finding a dry line.”
Second place in the first qualifying session went to the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 of Simon Birch and Denny Berndt (Razoon – more than Racing), 0.054 seconds behind. They were followed home by their fellow Porsche drivers Ferdinand Winter and Ivan Ekelchik (Wimmer Werk Motorsport), who were third, just 0.095 seconds behind. Both teams have their home race at the Red Bull Ring.
Second-placed in the overall standings, Finn Zulauf and Josef Knopp (W&S Motorsport) were 0.170 seconds off the pace, which meant fourth place. Fifth were the championship leaders Michael Schrey and Gabriele Piana (Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport) in the BMW M4 GT4. This promises to be a thrilling battle for the title.
The Porsche duo Zulauf/Knopp had an even better second qualifying session. Zulauf secured pole position with a time of 1:36.838 minutes.
“It was important to be on the track at the right time. In fact, the asphalt dried a little slower than we had thought,” said Zulauf. “We are obviously very happy with the result. In both races, we want to finish ahead of the leaders in the standings in order to make up points.”
Leyton Fourie and Max Rosam (FK Performance Motorsport) in the BMW came in second with a 0.215-second gap, ahead of Marschalkowski/Gogollok, who once again underlined their performance from Q1 with third place and 0.272 seconds behind. Fourth place went to the Porsche of Jamaican duo Senna Summerbell and Thomas Gore (W&S Motorsport). The BMW of Schrey/Piana finished the second qualifying session in eighth place.
The ADAC GT4 Germany race starts at 4:40 p.m. both on Saturday and Sunday.
