Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti underlined his title ambitions with pole position in the first qualifying session in Hockenheim.
The Italian from the GRT Grasser Racing Team, who has previously secured pole position at the Red Bull Ring this season and shares the Huracán GT3 Evo with fellow works driver Marco Mapelli this weekend, headed out onto the track earlier than his rivals and moved to the top of the timing sheet with a 1:37.533-minute lap around the midway point of the 20-minute session. “We had a different strategy, so we had a rather nervous wait at the end, but we did enough,” said Bortolotti, who picked up another three valuable points in the title race. “The times were really close again, as we have become used to in the ADAC GT Masters. I put together a great lap. The car felt very good. In the race, we will initially focus on the start and try to ensure that we make the most of the best starting position. We have a good car and a strong pair of drivers. We will concentrate on ourselves and see where we end up. However, the goal is obviously to win.”
He will be followed on the grid by more title contenders. Ricardo Feller, who leads the championship alongside Christopher Mies, qualified second in an Audi R8 LMS for Montaplast by Land-Motorsport. The Swiss was just 0.033 seconds slower than Bortolotti. Third place went to SSR Performance drivers Mathieu Jaminet/Michael Ammermüller, who are third in the table. Jaminet, at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 R, was also only slightly slower than the pole-sitter, with a lap time of 1:37.618 minutes.
Defending champion and fellow Porsche driver Christian Engelhart secured fourth place on the grid for himself and his partner Thomas Preining, with a time of 1:37.743 minutes. Rounding off the top five were Luca Stolz and Maro Engel from Mercedes-AMG team Toksport WRT. The German duo is currently second in the table, just two points off the lead.