Final qualifying, first pole. Ayhancan Güven (24/TR) from Team Joos Sportwagentechnik had something rather special up his sleeve in Sunday morning’s qualifying for the 14th and final race of this season’s ADAC GT Masters at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg. With a time of 1:37.899 minutes, the 24-year-old in the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R was the only driver to break the 1:38.000-minute barrier, securing his first pole position in the German GT Championship. The three bonus points received for the Pirelli Pole Position Award make it virtually impossible for anyone to deny Güven and his partner Christian Engelhart (35/Starnberg) second place in the championship.
“Finally my first pole position in the ADAC GT Masters. I have come close on several occasions, and this time we put everything together and it worked out for us. If the car is that good in the race, we could end the season with a win and head into the winter break on a high,” said Güven.
The reigning champion Ricardo Feller (22/CH) from Montaplast by Land-Motorsport was second in the #29 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, 0.118 seconds slower than Güven. As such, he and his partner Jusuf Owega (20/Cologne) are well positioned to end the season as they began it in their Audi – with a win. Third place went to Jules Gounon (27/F) from Drago Racing Team ZVO who, together with Fabian Schiller (25/Troisdorf) in the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, has won three races this season - more than anyone. Marco Mapelli (35/I) and Maximilian Paul (22/Dresden) from Paul Motorsport will start Sunday’s final race from fourth place in the #71 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo. The fellow Lamborghini pairing of Jack Aitken (27/GB) and Albert Costa Balboa (32/E) from Emil Frey Racing will line up in fifth place on the grid.
As on Saturday, the pursuit of fast times only really began in the final few minutes of Sunday morning’s qualifying session. First to set a marker was the Audi of reigning champions Christopher Mies (33/Düsseldorf) and Ricardo Feller. Güven’s fastest lap, which put him at the top of the timing sheet, came at the end of the session. Jules Gounon also dipped below 1:38.000 minutes, but his time did not count, as he left the track in turn one.
The 14th and final race of the ADAC GT Masters gets underway at 13:00. You can watch the race live on motorsport.tv and adac.de/motorsport.
