Mercedes-AMG driver Raffaele Marciello set the fastest time in the first ADAC GT Masters qualifying session in Oschersleben. In doing so, he picked up the first Pirelli Position Award of the season.
Unlike many of his rivals, the Italian took to the track early on in the 20-minute session and laid down a fastest time of 1:22.922 minutes, which was to prove unbeatable. Marciello also broke the qualifying record he set at last year’s season finale by 0.2 seconds. His flying lap presented ADAC GT Masters debutants Mann-Filter Team Landgraf – HTP/WWR with their maiden pole position. Pirelli rewarded the 26-year-old with a voucher for a new set of tyres.
“We wanted to start the season with a highlight, and we have done just that,” said the former Formula 1 test driver, who shares the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Hamburg’s Maximilian Buhk. “The team underwent a reorganisation over the winter, and we wanted to reward it for all the hard work. It is a long race today, we will have to work hard and see how it turns out. It is not easy to overtake here, so the pole is a real bonus. However, we cannot afford to make any unnecessary mistakes in the race if we want to finish high up the field.”
Second place went to Porsche driver David Jahn, who shares the cockpit of the 911 GT3 R run by the Joos Sportwagentechnik team with Marco Holzer. Jahn was 0.165 seconds slower than the pole-sitter. “It was a great start to the 2021 season for the team,” said a pleased Jahn. “The car was mega good. I put together a virtually perfect lap with just one small mistake. I am super happy and really looking forward to the race. I hope we can mix it with the cars at the front.”
Ricardo feller and Christopher Mies were the best-placed Audi drivers, qualifying third in the R8 LMS of Montaplast by Land-Motorsport. Their fastest time: 1:23.117 minutes. As such, the starting grid features three different manufacturers in the top three positions.
Fourth place went to the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Igor Waliłko and former champion Jules Gounon, who line up for the Zakspeed Mobil Krankenkasse Racing team. They were followed in fifth place by fellow Mercedes-AMG men Luca Stolz and Maro Engel of Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT.
NITRO is broadcasting the first race of this season’s German GT Championship, live and in full, from 16:00.