Engstler secures pole position for Abt Lamborghini in 24H Nürburgring qualifying

Luca Engstler has secured pole position for the No. 84 Abt Lamborghini in the 54th edition of the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring. Teammate Marco Mapelli will join him in the front row in the No. 130.

Behind them, Saturday’s race (starting at 3:00pm local time/8:30am ET) could also see a rematch of the duel between Christopher Haase (No. 16 Scherer-PHX-Audi) and four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen (No. 3 Verstappen-Mercedes-AMG). Both cars will start side by side from third and fourth on the grid. In the practice sessions, the two drivers have engaged in several thrilling duels, adding another reason for a full house in the Eifel. Only a few remaining tickets are available at the box office for Sunday; Saturday is completely sold out.

“That was exhausting. The conditions weren’t exactly easy,” said Engstler. “We’d initially thought we’d be driving on dry-wet tires, then it was a cut-and-dried slick, and in the end a slick after all. It was a ride on a razor’s edge, but that’s exactly what the Nordschleife is all about.”

With a time of 8m11.123s, Germany's Engstler secured pole position for the 24h Nürburgring for the first time by just 0.345s from Italian driver Marco Mapelli. Haase in third place was only 0.861s off in third place, while Dani Juncadella from the Verstappen team was 0.882s behind.

The best Ferrari, the No. 45, finished in fifth place, whilst the best Ford, the No. 64, was seventh. The fastest Porsche was the “Grello” from record winner Manthey with the No. 911; last year’s winners in the Rowe BMW No. 1 was the fastest car from Munich in ninth place.

Suspense in the three-stage Top Qualifying

There had already been a bit of drama in Top Qualifying 1 and 2 ahead of the showdown for pole position. First, 20 places for the second round were decided in Top Qualifying 1. Among those eliminated were the Dörr McLaren with the two former DTM stars Timo Glock and Timo Scheider, and the three HWA EVOs. In the subsequent Top Qualifying 2, Maro Engel then had a scare when he crashed the No. 80 RAVONOL Mercedes-AMG into the barrier in the Hatzenbach sector and was eliminated.

“That’s obviously very disappointing. Apologies to the team; that’s not the result any of us were hoping for,” said the DTM regular. "It was my mistake; the tire hadn’t reached its optimum temperature yet. That’s why I tried to push a bit to build up the temperature. I ended up skidding off.”

After the Code 60 zone around the accident site was lifted after all, events unfolded rapidly as all drivers suddenly had time for one more fast lap. Verstappen, who had previously led the standings, secured his team a place in the final individual time trial in sixth place after an improvement, while the No. 77 Schubert BMW and the No. 99 Rowe BMW spun off shortly before the end. The fastest time was set by Nick Yelloly in the No. 130 Abt Lamborghini in 8m0.485s, 0.139s ahead of Christian Krognes in the No. 34 Walkenhorst Aston Martin. The remaining three of the seven places still up for grabs were secured by "Grello" No. 911, the two HRT Fords Nos. 64 and 67, and the No. 7 Konrad Lambo.

Catch every minute of the 24H Nürburgring live and exclusive in the U.S. on RACER Network and RACER+, starting Saturday at 8:30am ET.