Estre Storms to N24 Pole in Delayed Top Qualifying

Kevin Estre took pole position for the 53rd Nürburgring 24, beating Thomas Neubauer in a Top Qualifying session that was delayed after an earlier crash for Laurens Vanthoor.

The Frenchman steered the No. 911 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R to a best lap of 8:12.741 to outpace his compatriot’s No. 45 Realize Kondo Racing with Rinaldi Ferrari 296 GT3 by 1.168 seconds.

Top Qualifying for this year’s N24 was reduced to a single-lap shootout as organizers scrambled to reshuffle the schedule when a crash for Laurens Vanthoor caused barrier damage at Schwedenkreuz.

That caused the original Top Qualifying session to be halted and pushed back to 4 p.m. CEST with a revised format, reducing the number of timed laps from two to one.

16 cars took part once the session was resumed, as the No. 16 Scherer Sport PHX Porsche was too heavily damaged after Vanthoor’s crash and has since also been withdrawn from the race.

After the No. 33 Falken Motorsports Porsche of Nico Menzel laid down an early benchmark with a. 8:14.279, Neubauer improved by setting an 8:13.909 to grab provisional pole.

However Estre, aided by four purple sectors in the middle of the lap, went quicker to take pole.

Menzel eventually dropped to fourth behind Maro Engel’s No. 14 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, with Mirko Bortolotti fifth in the No. 27 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

However, the car will be moved to the back of the first starting group for a red flag infringement committed during the initial Top Qualifying session earlier on Friday.

Markus Winkelhock took sixth in the No. 1 Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, followed by the second ABT Lamborghini in the hands of Luca Engstler.

Christian Krognes slotted into eighth in the No. 35 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, with Daan Arrow and Adam Christodoulou initially completing the overall top ten for Black Falcon Team EAE and Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed, respectively.

However, a number of significant penalties were handed out post session, with both the No. 35 Aston Martin and No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3 disqualified for a minimum ride height infraction.

Arrow’s No. 48 Porsche is set for a three-place grid drop for not having wheels on the car at the three-minute signal prior to the start of the session, a penalty that had also been given to the No. 65 Ford prior to its disqualification.

One car did not set a time, as the No. 11 SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm Mercedes-AMG stopped on track with Jay-Mo Haertling at the wheel.