Sunday’s qualifying in the ADAC GT Masters at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg saw Switzerland’s Alain Valente secure pole position for the final race of the 2024 season in his Ferrari 296 GT3. The Emil Frey Racing driver topped the timings sheet with a time of 1:37.649 minutes: “The grip was surprisingly very good from the word go, which meant I was able to set a fast time after just a short warm-up period. That puts us in a good position to claim our first win of the season in the race.” Second place went to the man who has successfully defended his title this season, Elias Seppänen (FIN/Landgraf Motorsport) in a Mercedes-AMG GT3, ahead of Sandro Holzem (Polch/Land Motorsport) in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2. In fourth place was Nico Hantke (Hürth) from Walkenhorst Motorsport in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Rounding out the top five was Leon Köhler (Erlenbach am Main) in a BMW M4 GT3 for FK Performance.
A light fog hung over the 4.574-kilometre circuit at the start of the session. Hoping that the visibility would improve, most drivers initially remained in their garage. The pursuit of pole position then started around the halfway point of qualifying. Despite visibility being limited in places, the drivers immediately produced fast lap times. Holzem was first to set the fastest time, which was soon surpassed by fellow Audi driver Jonas Karklys (LIT) from Liqui Moly Team Engstler by NordVPN. There then followed a thrilling battle for the front spot on the grid, involving several drivers. It was ultimately Valente who had momentum on his side and secured the first pole position of his career in the ADAC GT Masters.
The final race of the season at the iconic circuit near Mannheim gets underway at 15:15. Live coverage from Hockenheim begins at 15:00 on TV partner Sport1. All the race action will also be streamed live on the ADAC Motorsport YouTube channel at youtube.com/@ADACMotorsports, with commentary available in German and English.
