Nürburgring Friday Notebook

***Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein driver Raffaele Marciello claimed Mercedes-AMG’s fourth Nürburgring 24 pole position in the event’s GT3 era. He also became the fourth driver to take an individual pole at both the N24 and the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa after Maro Engel, Laurens Vanthoor and Frank Stippler.

***Marciello and Engel claimed a front-row lockout for Mercedes-AMG, reprising the outcome of the 2019 qualifying shootout albeit the other way around. Both drivers used Michelin’s medium compound, the middle option in terms of hardness, in Top Qualifying.

***While Marciello broke Laurens Vanthoor’s N24 qualifying lap record from 2018, the fastest outright GT3 time on the 25.378 km circuit layout remains in the hands of Augusto Farfus. The BMW driver posted an 8:08.421 during the N24 Qualifiers in 2022.

***Kelvin van der Linde was stunned by his third place in Top Qualifying, which was low on ABT Sportsline’s list of priorities in earlier sessions. “When you know you’re in the Top Q2, you focus more on the race setup,” he told Sportscar365. “Then when qualifying came around we knew what we had to do, but I’m just thrilled for the team. I didn’t expect P3 to be honest, so I’m still a bit shocked.”

***The two-time N24 winner was one of few drivers to set his fastest time on his second lap, revealing that his opener was compromised due to the dirt that was left after the clean-up of fluids following Christian Krognes’ accident.

***The qualifying battle between the two Mercedes-AMG GT2s running in SP-X was won by Schnitzelalm Racing. Mikael Grenier clocked an 8:25.745 to rank 31st overall in the highest-placed non-GT3 car.

***Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Stefan Wendl hopes GT2 can become a fully-fledged class at the Nürburgring. “We want to make a little bit of activation for this car and, maybe, for this concept to go into a class structure for NLS or the 24-hour race in the next years,” he told Sportscar365. “We have competitors with Audi, Porsche and Maserati maybe in the future. This could be an attractive class for gentleman drivers here.”

***Konrad Motorsport finished repairing its Lamborghini at 5 a.m. on Friday after Pavel Lefterov’s crash in Thursday evening practice, caused by contact with a CUP 3 Am class Porsche. Team boss Franz Konrad told Sportscar365 that the German squad “changed everything on the rear” including the driveshaft, suspension uprights and wing.

***Konrad added that his team chose not to upgrade its Lamborghini to the latest EVO2 specification because it would have been too complicated to adequately prepare for the N24 with a new package that only became available in the early months of this year.

***Yelmer Buurman qualified Konrad in 25th ahead of its fifth N24 with the Evo-spec Huracan GT3.

***The Aston Martin Vantage GT3s from Doerr Motorsport and PROsport Racing received a 15 kg weight reduction and a turbo boost pressure increase in a Balance of Performance change that was issued at 1 p.m. on Friday. PROsport qualified 24th overall.

***Porsche held a meeting with its SP9 teams on Friday afternoon to discuss the punctures that several cars from different tire suppliers encountered during the afternoon practice session.

***Asked whether the punctures could be related to a 20 kg weight increase imposed in a Thursday evening BoP change, Porsche 911 GT3 R program manager Sebastian Golz told Sportscar365: “It could be a summary of more topics. I have no answer right now. We need to put the last pieces together. It could be a combination of weight, aero and temperature.”

***There have been no further updates since Porsche introduced a fix to a wheel speed measurement issue shortly before the April 22-23 racing weekend, according to Golz. “We provided the solution in four days,” he said. “No team was forced to stop the car. The solution was implemented, and the cars are running fine. Nothing to add right now.”

***The Ferrari crews from WTM by Rinaldi Racing, Frikadelli Racing Team and Racing One are sharing information on the N24 debut of the Ferrari 296 GT3. “With the three Ferraris, everyone is putting together and organizing to get the good results,” said Frikadelli boss Klaus Abbelen, whose team receives support from Rinaldi. “I think we’ve got quite a good car now to make a good race.”

***Mike Rockenfeller anticipates a ‘not too different’ race compared to last year, where multiple high-profile cars were eliminated from contention in the opening half. “My feeling is just that it’s a fast race if the weather stays like that,” said the Audi driver. “Speed is high and the risk in traffic is going to be quite high, not to lose the tail end. So it’s a fine line.”

***The favorable dry weather conditions that have been present since the start of the event are expected to continue throughout the race, for what could be the first rain-free N24 in recent memory.

***Haupt Racing Team CEO Ulrich Fritz told Sportscar365 that it remains to be seen whether Edoardo Mortara will race the pole-sitting No. 2 Mercedes-AMG. Mortara is on standby for Philip Ellis, who has been feeling unwell all week. Fritz said that even if Ellis does part of the race, Mortara will jump in later if his compatriot decides to step back.

***The new DTM season starts at Oschersleben next weekend and nearly half of the competitors are in action here. Fifteen drivers including reigning champion Sheldon van der Linde, his brother Kelvin, Mercedes-AMG aces Engel and Luca Stolz and Audi drivers Ricardo Feller, Mattia Drudi and Patric Niederhauser, will be racing in Saxony.

***In addition to drivers, there’s also some crossover when it comes to teams, with Abt Sportsline, Manthey EMA and Haupt Racing Team all in action at Oschersleben.

***The DTM has a presence in the paddock with a promotional stand in the fan zone. Meanwhile, the Muecke Motorsport Mercedes C-Klasse 2008 with which Engel ran the 2011 season is racing in the Tourenwagen Legenden supports this weekend.

***Engel said: “It’s funny because one of the engineers that was working with me in DTM at the time is now working with us at GetSpeed. “So it brought back the memories and it’s great to see the car still being taken around the racetrack the way it should be.”

***The Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II that won last year’s race is on display inside the Audi Sport store at the ring°boulevard opposite the circuit’s main straight. Audi’s Head of Motorsport Rolf Michl told Sportscar365 that there is “no better place” to celebrate the Audi Sport performance brand’s 40th birthday.

***Michl attended his first N24 in the early 2010s but is looking forward to his first edition in the senior role that he started last fall. “Over the years, due to being assistant to the managing director, I had to be here but I never saw the finish because I always had to collect the flags for the fans! I would love to see it in person, with a flag in my hand.”

***Mercedes-AMG has an extensive Fan Base in the paddock where several of the manufacturer’s racing cars are on display. AMG has created a mock Nordschleife section with graffiti-covered tarmac where its GT3, GT2 and GT4 models are on show, among other high-performance road and racing models.

***Race day for the 51st Nürburgring 24 will begin with a 45-minute warmup at 12:40 p.m. local time (6:40 a.m. ET). The race is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. (10 a.m. ET).

Davey Euwema contributed to this report