Dominik Farnbacher at the wheel of the #2 Ferrari 458 Italia has claimed pole position for the 2011 Nürburgring 24 hour race. Farnbacher posted the time on Thursday in the first quali session. He managed a clear lap and capitalised on tyre choice to eventually qualify ahead of the #30 Mamerow/ROWE Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.

“We had gone out on special qualifying tyres,” revealed Farnbacher. “They were on perfect operating temperature and so, I was able to
pass everybody right away. And I’m very, very happy with the lap time.”

2011 Nürburgring 24 hour race: Top 10 Qualifying (Sessions 1 & 2)

1. Hankook Team Farnbacher #2 – Ferrari F458 Italia GT – 8:23.764
2. Mamerow/ROWE Racing #30 – Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 – 8:25.661
3. Black Falcon #22 – Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 – 8:26.780
4. BMW Motorsport #7 – BMW M3 GT – 8:27.430
5. BMW Motorsport #1 – BMW M3 GT – 8:27.915
6. Heico Motorsport #32 – Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 – 8:28.267
7. Audi Sport Team Phoenix #14 – Audi R8 LMS – 8:28.555
8. Manthey-Racing #11 – Porsche 911 GT3 R – 8:28.791
9. Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline #17 – Audi R8 LMS – 8:30.169
10. Need for Speed Team Schubert #76 – BMW Z4 GT3 – 8:30.198

[Pic: adac.24-rennen.de]

39th ADAC Zurich 24h-Race from 23rd to 26th June, 2011:
Comments made after Qualifying 1

Farnbacher-Ferrari secures provisional pole

The first lap in the first qualifying session for the 39th ADAC Zurich 24h-Race should prove to also have been the fastest: with a lap time of 8:23.764 minutes on the 25.378-kilometre Eifel circuit, Dominik Farnbacher secured the provisional pole, with his Ferrari F458 Italia GT (#2), and truly outpaced the entire field. In the end, the second-placed Team Black Falcon Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 (# 22, Heyer / Jäger / Bleekemolen / Seyffarth) was 6.617 seconds slower than the Farnbacher Ferrari. “We had gone out on special qualifying tyres,” revealed Farnbacher. “They were on perfect operating temperature and so, I was able to pass everybody right away. And I’m very, very happy with the lap time.” Third position on the provisional grid was secured by another gull-wing racer, the Mamerow-Racing SLS (#30, Mamerow / Hahne / Kaffer). The best-placed Audi R8 LMS (#16, Ekström / Scheider / Werner / Abt), followed in fourth position and the fastest Porsche (#18, Lieb / Luhr / Dumas / Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR) finished sixth behind Roloff / Rehfeld / Haupt / Schelp (#36, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3).

#1 (Müller / Farfus / Alzen / Lamy) BMW M3 GT
20:15hrs: Feverish work on the underbody of # 1. Jörg Müller complained about vibrations. Uwe Alzen: “I hope we will be able to identify the reason of the problem quickly.”

Dr Mario Theissen: “To eliminate the vibrations on #1, we changed – in succession – the drive shaft, the gearbox, the rear axle and the front-wheel bearings. Unfortunately, all this measures didn’t solve the problem. Now we think that the engine mountings possibly
could be the reason.”

23:10hrs, Charly Lamm: “It goes without saying that we had another schedule for this session. #7 was involved in an accident and #1 has got the vibration issue.”

#2 (Farnbacher / Simonsen / Seefried / Melo) Ferrari F458 Italia GT
Dominik Farnbacher: “I was lucky to find a free lap. We went out on special qualifying tyres on optimum operation temperature and so, I could pass everybody right away. And I’m very, very happy with the lap time. It goes without saying that we are dreaming of making it to the podium. But realising this goal certainly will prove to be extremely difficult – after all, there are some of the best drivers of the world competing in this event. The first hours of the race will prove to be an epic battle for sure – but we most definitely won’t meddle with it.”

#7 (Lamy / Müller / Werner / Adorf) BMW M3 GT
21:15hrs: Dirk Müller has an accident in the Karussell section. In the incident, the BMW is damaged and has to be brought back to the pits by a tow truck. Müller survives the accident unharmed.

#17 (Ludwig / Mies / Jöns / Abt) Audi R8 LMS
20:45hrs: The Audi R8 LMS collides with BMW #108.

21:10hrs, Christian Abt: “I already had passed the BMW but then it touched me at the rear – and I hit the crash barriers. This wouldn’t have been that bad and the car wasn’t damaged too badly – but then, the BMW hit me a second time.”

#14 (Basseng / Fässler / Stippler / Piccini) Audi R8 LMS
23:35hrs, Marc Basseng: “By finishing 12th we definitely failed to meet our expectations. Unfortunately, we didn’t find a free lap – we have got what it takes to set a 8:30-minute lap. But fighting only is worth while if you have the chance to secure the pole. Otherwise, it doesn’t really matter if you are starting a position further up or down. And we aren’t one of the pole contenders. Our car is constantly quick but the extra-fast qualifying lap isn’t onour agenda.”

#18 (Lieb / Luhr / Dumas / Bernhard) Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
20:45hrs, Timo Bernhard: “There is so much traffic! It’s just mad with all these cars outthere at the same time. Quite obviously, this makes things more difficult. In the beginning, we had to cope with some chaos – who may drive at which point in time…? I already haven been out on the track in both cars. With our Porsche #18 we want to secure a better position on the grid – the current position doesn’t reflect its true competitiveness.”

20:47hrs, Marc Lieb: “Things aren’t running really well for us, so far. I just drove the RPorsche. It’s our goal to secure a top-10 position.”

#22 (Heyer / Jäger / Bleekemolen / Seyffarth) Mercedes AMG SLS GT3
Thomas Jäger: “What a great lap. I think I used 99 percent of the car’s potential. The only factors that could improve the lap times of our car, now, are the weather and track conditions. To be honest, I didn’t expect us that far up on the provisional grid.”

#23 (Salo / Cappelari / Larini / Giovarnardi) N.Technology P4/5
22:00hrs, Mika Salo: “I just completed my first sundown laps at the Nordschleife. What an experience! Unser P4/5 runs not bad, we are happy. Yesterday I was out on the other side of the fence to take a look at the campsites and all the fans. That’s pure madness and far more than what I’ve experienced at Le Mans. Ever!“

#30 (Mamerow / Hahne / Kaffer) Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
22:20hrs: Due to a damper-flap problem, the SLS has to remain motionless in the garage for more than an our. Then, Chris Mamerow goes out and works his way up to third position. Pierre Kaffer: “We won’t push any more, today. But tomorrow…”

23:30hrs, Peter Mamerow: “Despite having finished third I can’t really say if I’m happy – as I car just had a puncture and will be brought back to the pits by a tow truck, now.”

#34 (Stuck / Stuck / Stuck / Rostek) Lamborghini LG 600
20:50hr, Hans-Joachim Stuck: “We had set ourselves the goal to make it to the top 20, in the night session. That’s what we have achieved and that’s enough for now. We are happy and will have a nice dinner, following the qualifying session.”

23:10hr, Ferdinand Stuck: “We encountered gearbox problems. More precisely, fourth and fifth gears didn’t work flawlessly. And then, I had to stop as the engine just stalled. Unfortunately, Johannes’ fastest lap was disallowed. Our pit-lane speed limiter controller works only in first speed. In the second it pops out at once and the car drives too fast. Johannes will go out for another stint, now.”

#44 (Henzler / Dumbreck / Asch / Ragginger) Porsche 997 GT3 R
21:15hrs, Wolf Henzler: “Everything is running fine. I never hat expected that we could be the fastest Porsche and make it to third position. Our fastest lap time was set by Martin Ragginger, who got behind the wheel of our Porsche 997 right after having contested a 60-minute Porsche Carrera Word Cup practice session, found a free lap and delivered a perfect lap time. Quite obviously, I hope that we will be able to defend our position until the session is over.”

Roland Asch, whose son Sebastian contests the race as Henzler’s team-mate, added: “This time I’m here as a visitor and am crossing my fingers for ‘Basti’. And now this surprise: third position! I just can’t believe it.”