Rarely has qualifying in the ADAC GT Masters been as thrilling as on Friday at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. In the two qualifying sessions for the races on Saturday and Sunday (to be shown live on SPORT1, commencing at 1pm local time), a mere 0.1 seconds separated the Top Three. After Austria's Philipp Eng (24) had placed his GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport Porsche 911 on pole position for Saturday's ADAC GT Masters, Tomas Enge (38, CZ / Reiter Engineering) booked the prime slot on the grid for race number 2 on Sunday. The Czech veteran is driving the latest development stage of the Lamborghini Gallardo entered by Reiter Engineering and making its ADAC GT Masters debut. "Just a perfect qualifying," said a contented Eng afterwards. "I went out on the track at exactly the right moment, with no-one else ahead of me, and I had the perfect car. That's how you win pole!"
Qualifying 1 for the race on Saturday:
The qualifying session for Saturday's race was the best possible advertisement for the two exciting races to come. The lead changed hands no fewer than six times as Corvette, BMW, Nissan, Lamborghini and Porsche vied with each other, but ultimately it was Philipp Eng who would emerge with his second ADAC GT Masters pole. The first time this native son of Salzburg (Steiermark) claimed P1 on the grid was back in 2012. The speedy Austrian has stepped in at short notice this weekend as a temporary replacement for Christian Engelhart (28, GER), sharing the cockpit of the GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport Porsche 911 with local favourite Klaus Bachler (23, A). In securing pole, Eng had to fend off Australian newcomer David Russell (33) in a Reiter Engineering Lamborghini. Shortly before the end of the session, Dominic Jöst (36, GER) in an MRS GT-Racing Nissan GT-R displaced Russell from the front row, securing the best ADAC GT Masters qualifying result to date for the Japanese manufacturer.
Qualifying 2 for the race on Sunday:
In the second qualifying heat, Tomas Enge was invincible. The ex-Formula 1 driver immediately placed his Lamborghini Gallardo at the top of the timesheets and then improved on his own lap time not once but twice, thereby clinching the first ADAC GT Masters pole for the Italian-made supercar since 2011. "This pole is an achievement by the entire team," said Enge after claiming a personal maiden pole in the Super Sports Car League. "While I was testing here two weeks ago, I had major spin with the car. The team has put in ten days of non-stop work to enable us to compete here. I am very proud that, after a long lean spell, we have been able to prove that the Gallardo can still hold its own in such a competitive series as the ADAC GT Masters." Enge had just one small problem in qualifying: "We've changed from Camaro to Lamborghini this weekend, and my Lamborghini racing overall dates back to 2012, so it's a bit of a tight fit."
Starting alongside Enge on Sunday's front row will be Daniel Keilwitz (25, GER) who is on a two-year unbeaten run at the Red Bull Ring. In the final minutes of qualifying, Keilwitz in his Callaway Competition Corvette consigned Florian Strauss (30, GER) in an MRS GT-Racing Nissan to the second row. The second Lamborghini, which is making its ADAC GT Masters debut in Austria this weekend, also impressed with a strong performance. Mirko Bortolotti (25, I) put the new Huracán entered by Grasser Racing from nearby Knittelfeld in fourth place on the second row; his team-mate Adrian Zaugg (28) from South Africa starts the first race from P5. Local favourite and current championship leader Bachler has booked the seventh slot for his Porsche on the grid for Sunday's race.
SPORT1 and SPORT1+ will be showing both races from the Red Bull Ring live on Saturday and Sunday. Broadcasts start at 1pm CEST. The races can also be watched online as a live stream at www.adac.de/gt-masters.