Klettwitz: Excitement all the way in the first ADAC GT Masters qualifying session at the Motorsport Festival Lausitzring. Luca Stolz (21, DEU, Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED) posted the fastest time of the 20-minute session in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. Stolz thus took pole position for Saturday’s race of the Super Sports Car League from team-mate Indy Dontje (24, NL, Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport), ensuring a front-row lock-out for Mercedes-AMG GT3. SPORT1 will broadcast the third ADAC GT Masters race of the season live and in full at 12.30 pm. The race can also be watched online as a live stream at sport1.de and adac.de/motorsport.

Stolz posted a time of 1.22.549 minutes in the end. He kept a cool head despite temperatures of around 30 degrees and waited for the right time to post his fastest lap. “We were the last to go out, which paid off,” said Stolz. “Our lap was just right and we had the best track conditions. We’ve been working hard since the start of the season in Oschersleben. We had the first inkling in practice that we’re well sorted here. When you start from pole position, you obviously want to win, but the field is very close together.” For Stolz, who shares the car with Luca Ludwig (27, DEU), this was his fourth pole position in the ADAC GT Masters and his first since the Sachsenring in 2016.

ADAC GT Masters newcomer Indy Dontje had to be satisfied with P2 on the grid. The Dutchman, who partners Marvin Kirchhöfer (23, DEU), qualified on the front row for the first time in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. Porsche driver Robert Renauer (32, DEU, Precote Herberth Motorsport) missed the front row by a mere two thousandths of a second. Positions four and five went to the two Corvette C7 GT3-Rs of Sven Barth (36, DEU, RWT Racing) and fellow Corvette driver Jules Gounon (22, F, Callaway Competition). Barth was that little bit quicker than the Frenchman, who won the race on Sunday last year at the Lausitzring. The fastest Lamborghini Huracán GT3 came home in sixth place with Ezequiel Perez Companc (22, RA, GRT Grasser Racing Team) at the wheel.

Tickets for the seven race weekends are available online at: www.adac.de/motorsport.