Lamborghini works driver Mirko Bortolotti set the fastest time in qualifying for the Saturday race in the German GT Championship at the Red Bull Ring.
The Italian waited until the closing stages of qualifying to launch his assault on pole position. With seven and a half minutes remaining, he moved to the top of the timings with a lap of 1:28.948 minutes. However, he was then toppled by BMW driver Nick Yelloly and Raffaele Marciello in a Mercedes-AMG. After a short break in the session to recover a stranded car, Bortolotti regained first place with times of first 1:28.900 minutes and then 1:28.773 minutes. As a reward, the Viennese driver receives an exclusive Pirelli suitcase. Due to a collision caused by Bortolotti’s team-mate Albert Costa Balboa in the Sunday race in Oschersleben, the number 63 Lamborghini will receive a five-place grid penalty, meaning they start the race from sixth place.
“Even before the session was suspended, I was on a lap that would have been good enough to give us pole, but then the red flags came out. Fortunately, the tyres were still good and I was able to push again,” said Bortolotti. “My fastest lap was perfect. I am really happy. This is a great result for the team. Unfortunately, we have the penalty, but sixth place on the grid is the best possible result for us. We will now focus on the race. We struggle compared to the opposition in the first sector, but are strong in the second and third sectors. Let’s see how we get on. We are hoping to gain a few places and get to the front.”
Starting the third race of this season’s ADAC GT Masters at 13:30 will be last year’s winner Nick Yelloly. The Englishman, who alternates at the wheel of a BMW M6 GT3 with Jesse Krohn, set a lap time of 1:28.896 minutes. “We did not expect to be so close to the front of the field,” said Schubert Motorsport driver Yelloly. “We struggled with balance yesterday, but did our homework overnight and made a few changes to the set-up. I will do my best to hand over to Jesse in first place. We know that the Red Bull Ring suits our car. As such, we have to get as much out of this weekend as possible.”
Third in qualifying was Mercedes-AMG driver Raffaele Marciello, who shares the Mann-Filter Team Landgraf HTP/WWR car with Maximilian Buhk. The Italian clocked a time of 1:28.921 minutes. Fourth place went to defending champion Michael Ammermüller and Mathieu Jaminet in the SSR Performance Porsche 911 GT3 R. They were followed by fellow Porsche due David Jahn/Marco Holzer in the 911 of Team Joos Sportwagentechnik. The best-placed Austrian was Thomas Preining in sixth, also in a Porsche. His partner in Küs Team Bernhard is defending champion Christian Engelhart.
Just 1.8 seconds separated the entire field of 27 cars at the end of qualifying.