Engstler Leads Lamborghini Front Row Lockout for N24

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/SRO

Luca Engstler led a front row lockout for Red Bull Team ABT and Lamborghini for this weekend’s Nürburgring 24.

The defending CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa winner, aboard the No. 84 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, reeled off a chart-topping 8:11.123 lap time to edge out teammate and fellow Lamborghini factory driver Marco Mapelli by 0.345 seconds.

It marked the first N24 pole for the Italian manufacturer as it seeks its maiden triumph in the Eifel endurance classic.

Engstler will share his pole-winning Lamborghini with Mirko Bortolotti and Patric Niederhauser.

The sister No. 130 Lamborghini features Mapelli alongside former N24 winners Nicky Catsburg and Nick Yelloly.

Christopher Haase, in the No. 16 Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, qualified third in the Top Qualifying 3 shootout, ahead of the No. 3 Verstappen Racing, Winward Racing-run Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Dani Juncadella.

Thomas Neubauer completed the top-five in the lone Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo in the field.

Maximilan Paul, in Konrad Motorsport’s Lamborghini, qualified sixth, ahead of the best of the HRT Ford Mustang GT3 EVOs, in the No. 64 machine of Frank Stippler in seventh.

Manthey Racing’s Thomas Preining ended up eighth, in the lone Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo in the shootout, while the defending race-winning ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO qualified ninth in the hands of Raffaele Marciello.

David Pittard completed the top-ten in the No. 47 KCMG Mercedes-AMG, with the Walkenhorst Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Nicki Thiim and Fred Vervisch’s No. 67 HRT Mustang bringing up the rear of the 12-car shootout.

SP-X pole honors went to the No. 81 BMW M3 Touring 24H, which didn’t make it into Top Qualifying 3 but will start 22nd overall.

Pole positions in other classes were determined in a separate Qualifying 3 session earlier in the day.

The Nürburgring 24 gets underway Saturday at 3 p.m. CEST (9 a.m. EST).

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John