The first qualifying session at the premiere of the ADAC GT Masters in the Czech Republic was notable for the very small gaps between cars. The 30-minute session at the Autodrom Most ended with a best time of 1.31.582 minutes for Schmidt in the Audi R8 LMS fielded by BWT Mücke Motorsport, which was a mere nine thousandths of a second quicker than Marvin Kirchhöfer in Callaway Competition's Corvette C7 GT3-R. "That was a first-class lap," said the delighted pole-sitter. "We did a good job and went out relatively late. Everything came together. There was no traffic. Many thanks to everyone in the team. The car went like a rocket. Overtaking is not so easy here, so the goal will be to stay ahead at the start and then manage the lead. That won't be too easy against the Corvette. I'm partnering Stefan Mücke for the first time this weekend, which suits me perfectly, because we have similar driving styles."

Christopher Zöchling and Jens Klingmann in the BMW M6 GT3 from MRS GT-Racing came home in third place with a 0.004-second deficit on Kirchhöfer, who shares the Corvette with Daniel Keilwitz. Markus Pommer & Maximilian Götz were fourth in the best-placed Mercedes-AMG GT3 prepared by MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport. Robert Renauer and Mathieu Jaminet in the Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by Precote Herberth Motorsport completed the Top Five. Renauer was only 0.109 seconds adrift of pole on his fastest lap. Further down the field too, very small gaps between competing cars were a feature of the quali with 25 vehicles covered by just one second in the end. The whole field finished within 2.3 seconds of one another.