Rutronik Leads Porsche 1-2 in Nürburgring Qualifying

Rutronik Racing led a Porsche 1-2 in qualifying for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup round at the Nürburgring.

The No. 96 Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by Julien Andlauer, Sven Mueller and Patric Niederhauser, posted a combined average time of 1:53.927 to take pole position by a margin of 0.088 seconds.

After Andlauer set an early benchmark of 1:54.634 in the opening session, the No. 96 car remained at the top of the average times through the remaining two segments.

It withstood a challenge from the No. 22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche to take Porsche’s first Endurance Cup pole of the season, with Ayhancan Guven, Laurin Heinrich and Dorian Boccolacci joining them on the front row.

Franck Perera, Marco Mapelli and Jordan Pepper secured third for GRT Grasser Racing Team, while the No. 48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo qualified fourth.

That was thanks in part to Maro Engel setting the quickest individual time of 1:53.121 in the third session to leap up to the second row.

In the process, the Winward Racing-operated Mercedes-AMG beat the GetSpeed Performance-entered example of Luca Stolz, Jules Gounon and Fabian Schiller in fifth.

The No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 took sixth, while its sister car looks set for a back-of-the-grid start after an incident in the final session.

The No. 51 car of Alessio Rovera, Davide Rigon and Alessandro Pier Guidi suffered damage in a suspected collision on pitlane, with the car having been noted for an unsafe release by stewards.

The car took no further part in the session and is due to start 48th overall.

The championship-leading No. 7 Aston Martin qualified seventh, despite Mattia Drudi setting the quickest time during the second session.

That second session was ended prematurely as a result of a crash for Lorcan Hanafin’s No. 35 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin.

The British racer went off at Turn 9, which required barrier repairs and led to a delayed start to the third segment of qualifying.

The overall top ten was rounded out by the No. 998 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3, No. 9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG and No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini.

Sainteloc Racing’s No. 25 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II took Gold Cup pole in 15th overall, one place clear of the Bronze Cup-leading No. 97 Rutronik Racing Porsche of Dustin Blattner, Dennis Marschall and Loek Hartog.

Boutsen VDS’s No 10 Mercedes-AMG, driven by Cesar Gazeau, Roee Meyuhas and Aurelien Panis, claimed pole in Silver Cup in 19th overall.

In addition to the No. 51 Ferrari and No. 35 Aston Martin, one other car failed to set a combined time as the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG went off in the opening segment with Tanart Sathienthirakul at the wheel and took no further part afterwards.

The third round of the Fanatec GT Europe Endurance Cup season kicks off later today at 3 p.m. CEST (9 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Qualifying (combined)