Schiller Sets Pre-Qualifying Pace in GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG

Fabian Schiller kept Mercedes-AMG on top of the times in Pre-Qualifying for Sunday’s three-hour Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup race at the Nürburgring.

Schiller steered the No. 777 GetSpeed-run Al Manar Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to a leading 1:54.173 lap time around 20 minutes into the 90-minute session.

The German driver was the early pacesetter until improvements from Leonardo Pulcini and Dean MacDonald dropped him to third, but a swift response put GetSpeed back in charge for the remaining duration.

Pulcini settled for second, three-tenths behind Schiller, but it was nonetheless a strong day for the Italian who put the Gold Cup-leading No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 second overall in both Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying.

Marvin Kirchhoefer eclipsed MacDonald as the quickest McLaren 720S GT3 Evo driver, setting the No. 159 Garage 59 car in third place with a 1:54.521 effort.

The No. 88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG that led Free Practice came through in fourth with Jules Gounon at the wheel.

Gounon lapped marginally quicker than Glenn van Berlon in the Silver Cup-leading No. 85 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini and the Optimum Motorsport McLaren in which MacDonald briefly held a spot in the top two.

Pre-Qualifying had more consistent weather conditions than Free Practice, although rainfall in the last few minutes prevented any last-minute improvements.

The highest-placed Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II was the No. 99 Tresor Attempto Racing example which finished ninth in the hands of Alex Aka, after his co-driver Lorenzo Patrese had a wild spin at Turn 11 but managed to stay out of the barriers.

Tresor Attempto ended up one position ahead of the No. 57 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, while the best Porsche 911 GT3 R came through in 15th.

It was an understated session for the BMW M4 GT3s as the No. 46 Team WRT car headed up the Munich manufacturer’s contingent down in 24th overall.

Qualifying for the 3 Hours of the Nürburgring begins at 8:45 a.m. local time on Friday (2:45 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Pre-Qualifying