Frikadelli Ferrari Leads After Opening Round of Stops

David Pittard led the opening hour at the Nürburgring 24 in Frikadelli Racing Team’s Ferrari 296 GT3 ahead of the front row-starting Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos.

Pittard started from fourth behind Raffaele Marciello, Maro Engel and the ABT Sportsline Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Marco Mapelli, but rose to second before the first round of pit stops where divergent strategies enabled Frikadelli to reach the lead.

Pittard and Mapelli squeezed Engel out on the run down to Turn 1 as Marciello maintained the pole position he earned in Friday evening’s Top Qualifying 2 shootout.

However, on the third lap, Mapelli overtook Marciello at the fast Schwedenkreuz left-hander, although the Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein driver kept the pressure on.

Pittard then caught a strong draft from Marciello’s No. 4 Mercedes-AMG and moved his Rinaldi-prepared Ferrari into second at the end of the Dottinger Hohe straight.

Marciello lost another position on the next lap when Engel used a strong exit from Pflanzgarten to power past.

Both Mercedes-AMGs and the Frikadelli Ferrari then came into the pits, relieving the immediate pressure on race leader Mapelli.

Because ABT Sportsline completed a one-lap longer stint and required a slower pit stop, Mapelli dropped positions in the net order as Pittard emerged ahead of Engel and Marciello.

Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed driver Engel leapfrogged Marciello as the pair exited the pits, with the No. 4 Haupt Racing Team-prepared car initially slow to get up to speed.

The SP9 pit stops shook out at the end of the hour, with Pittard holding a 10.5-second lead over Engel and Marciello after a strong out-lap from the British driver.

Tim Heinemann was fourth in the No. 44 Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, ahead of Arjun Maini in the No. 6 Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein entry.

Mattia Drudi was the best-placed Audi driver in sixth for defending winner Phoenix Racing, while Kelvin van der Linde ran seventh in the ABT Lamborghini.

Kevin Estre started the Manthey EMA Porsche from 20th on the grid but made up several positions early on to run 11th at the end of the opening hour.

Another high-profile Porsche, the Lionspeed GP example run by Car Collection Motorsport, hit trouble when Matt Campbell slid into the left-side barriers at Ex-Muhle. The Australian driver brought the car back to the pits for repairs to rear-end damage.