HTP Motorsport Takes Pole at Nürburgring

HTP Motorsport is on pole position for Sunday’s Blancpain 1000 at the Nürburgring, the final race of the 2013 Blancpain Endurance Series. The Total 24 Hours of Spa winning team was fastest in today’s qualifying session.

Maximilian Götz was the fastest driver out on the German circuit as he posted a best lap of 1:54.852 in the No. 84 HTP Motorsport Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 in the second of three qualifying sessions this afternoon.

The HTP Motorsports Mercedes was quickest in two of the sessions, with Bernd Schneider over a second quicker than most of his rivals in the first session and Götz beating the SMP Racing Ferrari No. 71 and Marc VDS Racing Team BMW No. 3 by over seven tenths of a second.

“It was not even a good condition on the track. There are 50 cars on track, so to get a good lap requires a lot of luck,” said Götz. “It was planned that Max (Buhk) would set our fastest lap, but the track was too dirty by the time he was in the car, so I had to go quickest in the end.”

Points leaders Kessel Racing qualified in 15th position, the Marc VDS Racing Team BMW of Maxime Martin, Yelmer Buurman and Bas Leinders will start from sixth tomorrow, while fellow title contenders Frank Stippler and Christopher Mies will start from seventh.

In Pro-Am the No. 71 SMP Racing Ferrari will start from pole. The No. 32 Nissan GT Academy Team RJN of Alex Buncombe, Mark Shulzhitskiy and Jann Mardenborough will start from second, giving the Nissan team a head start in the Pro-Am title battle. Drivers Championship points leader Lucas Ordonez and Peter Pyzera will start the race from 10th in class, two places ahead of the AF Corse Ferrari that is currently second in Pro-Am.