The Mamba has struck. Raffaele Marciello (27/I) from Mann-Filter Team Landgraf was the fastest driver in Saturday morning’s first qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring, setting a time of 1:28.378 minutes to secure the Pirelli Pole Position Award and three bonus points.
The Mercedes-AMG works driver clocked his fastest time at the wheel of the #48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 on lap seven. He and team-mate Jonathan Aberdein (24/ZA) will start the race from the front of the grid when it gets underway at 13:00. “It was a very good qualifying session for us. The car ran smoothly and we had plenty of grip. Let’s see how it goes in the race. The BMWs are very strong at the Red Bull Ring and will be a force to be reckoned with,” said Marciello after his third pole position in the ADAC GT Masters.
When the drivers arrived at the circuit in Spielberg for Saturday morning’s qualifying, they were greeted by cool temperatures and a track surface that was still damp in places following last night’s rainfall. Despite the difficult conditions, the session was exciting from the word go, with new fastest times being set every minute. Marciello put together his perfect lap at the seventh attempt and set the fastest time of the day in the “Mamba”. Just 0.013 seconds slower in second place was Ayhancan Güven (24/TR) in the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R, who picked up two bonus points for the Joos Sportwagentechnik team and his partner Christian Engelhart (35/Starnberg).
Ben Green (24/GB) backed up his fine performances in free practice. The Brit, driving the #10 BMW M4 GT3 for Schubert Motorsport, was third fastest round the 4.318-kilometre alpine circuit. He and team-mate Niklas Krütten (19/Trier) will start the opening race of the weekend from the second row of the grid. Lining up alongside him in fourth place will be fellow BMW driver and team-mate Jesse Krohn (31/FIN), who shares the cockpit with Nicky Catsburg (34/NL). Rounding out the top five is the #19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo of the Emil Frey Racing team, with Franck Perera (38/F) and Arthur Rougier (22/F) at the wheel.
