Despite not having driven a racing car in anger for twelve years, it would appear that Ralf Schumacher (49/Salzburg, US Racing) has definitely not lost it. The former Formula 1 driver and present-day TV expert demonstrated this emphatically at the Nürburgring, where he secured pole position in qualifying on his Prototype Cup Germany debut. That impressive display means Schumacher will start from the front of the grid when race one gets underway at 17:20 on Saturday at the circuit in the Eifel. In second place, 0.221 seconds slower, was Julien Apothéloz (23/CHE, BWT Mücke Motorsport). Third place went to Keanu Al Azhari (16/UAE, Mühlner Motorsport).
“It was a good qualifying, but I must say that my team gave me a very good car,” said a happy Schumacher. “I did not really get my laps right at the start of the session, but it all came together in the end. I must admit that first place is a surprise to me too, but it is a pretty nice surprise.” Apothéloz had to settle for second place behind Schumacher, but was by no means unhappy. “From my point of view, that was a decent qualifying. My laps were not bad. We made a few changes to the car in the free practices, which were a big step in the right direction. And our tactic of heading out later in the session also paid dividends. I would obviously have liked to have been ahead of Ralf, but he and his team were really strong. For me, it is more important to be in front of my rivals in the title race. To be honest, I think it is great to be able to test yourself against a motorsport star like Ralf Schumacher in this series.”
In contrast, third-placed Al Azhari was frustrated with his performance. “That was not my best qualifying, but I am still not unhappy. I wanted too much on the final lap and ended up skidding, and consequently lost three or four tenths of a second. However, I think I would only have taken second place if absolutely everything had fallen into place. As such, third place is okay for me. Especially as we did not use many new tyres in yesterday’s test and the two practice sessions today.”
Lining up behind the top three will be Valentino Catalano (18/Westheim, Gebhardt Motorsport), followed by championship leader Danny Soufi (21/USA, Konrad Motorsport), Antti Rammo (41/EST, MRS GT-Racing), Luca Link (20/Günzberg, DataLab Sports with Rinaldi) and Stefan Aust (52/Münster, Rinaldi Racing). Klaus Abbelen (63/Barweiler), together with team-mate Felipe Laser (36/Leipzig, both Frikadelli Racing Team) a winner in Hockenheim, was ninth at his home event. “The second free practice was not very positive, because I had issues with the car set-up. In these circumstances, I can be very satisfied with qualifying, as I improved by 1.5 seconds. To do so, I had to adapt my driving style to the Ligier. I think things could go even better in the race.”
