Porsche has made it into the new Top Qualifying for the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, which is limited to 30 vehicles, with all seven customer-run 911 GT3 R racers.
In the first heat of the two-part final qualifying session, Dennis Olsen achieved second in the individual time trial with the 500+hp 911 fielded by the KCMG squad.
Facing very difficult track conditions with rain setting in, he made the best use of the first of his two laps and missed out on topping the time-sheets by a mere quarter of a second. This allowed the Norwegian to take part in the second qualifying segment.
However, he had to park the vehicle, which he shares with Timo Bernhard, Jörg Bergmeister (both Germany) and Earl Bamber (New Zealand) due to problems during the warm-up lap.
As the best-placed 911 GT3 R, Frikadelli Racing’s No. 30 entry heads into the 24-hour race on Saturday at 3.30 pm local time from P14. Sharing the cockpit are qualifying driver Alex Müller (Germany), Klaus Abbelen, Robert Renauer (both Germany) and Norbert Siedler (Austria). The Porsche, which contests the Pro-Am class, had already made it into the top-17 session after scoring good results in the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS).
A few days before the Nürburgring season highlight, Porsche had completely reorganised its works driver line-up after three positive Covid-19 routine tests of team members at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
As a result, the two Porsche brand ambassadors Timo Bernhard and Jörg Bergmeister, as well as Earl Bamber, had to step in at short notice to drive the KCMG-911 GT3 R.
Bamber was supposed to contest the IMSA race for Porsche in Mid-Ohio this weekend. As the five-time overall winner at the Nürburgring, Timo Bernhard is one of the most successful drivers at this 24-hour race. He also holds the lap record on the Nordschleife after setting a time of 5:19.546 minutes with the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo.
Like Bamber, the 2017 World Endurance Champion has won Le Mans twice. The quartet underlined what they are capable of by setting the fourth fastest lap in today’s first practice. Given the changeable conditions in the following two sessions, their time guaranteed them entry into the first Top Qualifying segment.
The Nürburgring 24-hour race is contested over the 25.378-kilometre combination of the original Grand Prix circuit and the Nordschleife. Around 95 vehicles take part this year, with Porsche making up almost a third of the field. A restricted number of spectators are permitted to watch from the grandstands of the Grand Prix circuit.
Result Top Qualifying
1/ Christodoulou/Engel/Stolz/Metzger (GB/D/D/D), Mercedes-AMG GT3 #4
2/ Grossmann/Trummer/Hirschi/Ludwig (D/CH/CH/D), Ferrari 488 GT3 #26
3/ Schiller/Götz/Buhk/Marciello (D/D/D/I), Mercedes-AMG AMG GT3 #9
…
14/ Abbelen/Müller/Renauer/Siedler (D/D/D/A), Porsche 911 GT3 R #30
17/ Bamber/Bergmeister/Bernhard/Olsen (NZ/D/D/N), Porsche 911 GT3 R #18
…
18/ Arnold/Kern/Jaminet/Martin (D/D/F/B), Porsche 911 GT3 R #31
21/ Engelhart/Müller/Werner/Bachler (D/D/D/A), Porsche 911 GT3 R #33
22/ Burdon/Liberati/Imperatori/Olsen (AUS/I/CH/N), Porsche 911 GT3 R #19
26/ Menzel/Holzer/Kolb/Rocco di Torrepadula (D/D/D/I), Porsche 911 GT3 R #25
27/ Bachler/Ragginger/Dumbreck/Müller (A/A/GB/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R #44*
30/ Böckmann/Müller/Rivas/Rosenberg (D/D/L/D), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MR #35
- Relegated to the back of the starting group due to a penalty
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