The Raeder Automotive Ford GT has upset bigger names to claim pole position for the 37th Nürburgring 24 hour race.

The Ford qualified ahead of the 2008 winners in the Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RSR. The Audi R8 LMS entries have taken the next three positions. A very impressive showing for a car making its N24 debut.

Given the comments of Niki Raeder, Team Principal Raeder Automotive, after first qualifying yesterday it is safe to say they have exceeded their expectations, “First of all I have to say that we are delighted with having the pportunity to be part of this race, with our GT. But due to our spare-part situation we can’t do more than the necessary mileage. Therefore, we treat our car with care. We needn’t prove anything to anybody. I expect us to qualify for seventh to twelfth position on the grid.”

The pole winning lap time for the 25.4km lap was 8:36.536. Amazingly the Manthey RSR was just 0.191 seconds behind, posting a lap time of 8:36.727. The best of Audi R8s was less than a second back with a time of 8:37.553.

For more check the official race website.