By Tarek Ramchani
The Audi squad had a very frustrating qualifying session today at the Nürburgring. Only one Audi R8 LMS ultra made it within the top 10 for tomorrow's Blancpain Endurance Series finale.
Title contenders Christopher Mies and Frank Stippler qualified in seventh place. The two German drivers are joined for this special 6-hour race by René Rast on the #13 Audi R8 LMS ultra. In the championship standing, Mies and Stippler are only two points behind the series leaders. The other two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars of the team had a harder session. The #1 Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Laurens Vanthoor, Stéphane Ortelli and Edward Sandstrom qualified in seventeenth place. The #2 car of Rahel Frey, Niki Mayer-Melnhof and new comer Francesco Castellaci was thirty-second.
Local team Phoenix Racing too faced an unlucky session. The #16 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Anthony Kumpen, Enzo Ide and Markus Winkelhock ended in nineteenth position. The sister #6 Audi R8 LMS ultra with drivers Christopher Haase, Oliver Jarvis and Harold Primat was further behind in twenty-eighth position.
Pole position went to the #84 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 from HTP Motorsport. Second the #90 Ferrari 458 GT3 from Esta Motorsport. Third the #11 McLaren MP4-12C from ART Grand-Prix.
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT will try hard to improve on track and fight for both driver's and team's titles. The 6-hour race is set for tomorrow. A live Stream coverage will be available on series official website.
Photo credit: Endurance-Info
