The Herberth Motorsport Porsche 991 GT3 R (#93, Edward Lewis Brauner / Stefan Aust / Klaus Rader / Klaus Bachler / Hans Wehrmann) became the fifth different GT polesitter of the 2019 24H SERIES season this weekend in Portugal after a stunning last-minute run in the closing stages of qualifying.
Klaus Bachler lapped the 4.652km Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in 1m 44.440s to claim the overall GT pole position for the 2019 Hankook 24H PORTIMAO, pulling just 0.308s clear of the Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha Ferrari 488 GT3 (#11, Jiří Písařík / Josef Kral / Matteo Malucelli) with barely 60 seconds of qualifying left to run.
The result means Herberth Motorsport also becomes the third A6-Am car to claim outright pole position in the five events so far this season.
“It’s a good feeling,” a smiling Bachler said to radiolemans.com’s Joe Bradley.
“The team did an amazing job to prepare the car. Plus the track was getting cooler and it was more consistent towards the end, so that really helped. We have a good plan for tomorrow and my co-drivers have been doing a good job so far this weekend, so we’re feeling good.”
Current standings leader Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha makes its second front row start of the season as the fastest A6-Pro runner.
In the mix for pole position in the closing stages, the returning GPX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (#24, Nicky Pastorelli / Jordan Grogor / Alexandre Cougnaud / Jean-Pierre Valentini) lines up 3rd on the grid, just ahead of the Toksport WRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#15, Hendrik Still / Joachim Bölting / Wolfgang Triller / Peter Terting / Nikolaj Rogivue).
Having joined the 45-minute session with only 10 minutes left to run, the second of three Herberth Motorsport Porsches entered this weekend (#91, Daniel Allemann / Ralf Bohn / Robert Renauer / Alfred Renauer) managed to set the 5th fastest time overall, rounding out the A6-Pro class in the process.
The third fastest A6-Am entry – the CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (#85, Charles Putman / Charles Espenlaub / Joe Foster / Shane Lewis) – starts 7th.
This weekend marks the first competitive outing of the brand new Mercedes-AMG GT3 ahead of its 2020 homologation. The sole SP4-class entry (#500, Hubert Haupt / Maximilian Buhk / Kenneth Heyer / Charles Putman / Rik Breukers) will start the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO from 10th on the grid.
The Cor Euser Racing MARC II V8 (#717, Cor Euser / Jim Briody / Einar Thorsen / Ricky Coomber) topped a close battle for SPX-class pole position, with both the QSR Racingschool Mercedes-AMG GT4 (#454, Jimmy de Breucker / Johnny de Breucker/ Lance Bergstein / Dominique Bastien / Thomas Jäger) and the Leipert Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 (#710, Harald Schlotter / Marcus Påverud / Ilmari Korpivaara / Yury Wagner / Dominik Baumann) running just under a second adrift.
Current 24H SERIES Europe 991-class standings leader Porsche Lorient Racing (#911, Jean-François Demorge / Gilles Blasco / Lionel Amrouche / Gavin Pickering / Frédéric Ancel) got its weekend off to a good start with category pole position, just ahead of the MRS GT-Racing Porsche 991-II Cup (#980, Alex Autumn / Nicola Michelon / Dorian Mansilla / Hendrik Von Dannwitz) and the DUWO Racing Porsche 991-II Cup (#909, Andrey Mukovoz / Sergey Peregudov / Stanislav Sidoruk)
Back in GT4, reigning 24H TCE SERIES champion Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 (#50, Martin Kroll / Thomas Jäger / Michael Fischer / Michael Schrey / Alexander Prinz) took its second class pole position of the season in Portimão, and will start ahead of the PROsport Performance Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 (#1, Rodrigue Gillion / Nico Verdonck / Akhil Rabindra / Mike-David Ortmann), the reigning 24H GT SERIES champion. Racing on home turf, the Parkalgar Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4 (#412, Paulo Pinheiro / Jose Monroy / Malcolm Sandford / Joaquim Penteado) starts 3rd in-class.
This weekend’s Hankook 24H PORTIMAO marks the first time this season where points earned are eligible for both the 2019 24H SERIES Europe and the 2019 24H SERIES Continents in both the GT and TCE divisions.
AC Motorsport takes first TCE pole position of 2019 at 24H PORTIMAO
PORTIMAO (5 July, 2019) – The AC Motorsport Audi RS3 LMS (#188, Stephane Perrin / Mathieu Detry / James Kaye / Sam Dejonghe) has taken its first TCE pole position of the 2019 24H SERIES season after a tense qualifying session.
Sam Dejonghe lapped the 4,652km Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in 1m 55.283s, just under 0.3s faster than Yannick Mettler in the pursuing Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR (#112, Stefan Tanner / Ralf Henggeler / Marlon Menden / Yannick Mettler / Jérôme Ogay). The Belgian team will be gunning for its third TCR podium of the season, and, almost certainly, its first TCE win.
“The first stint was okay but I was a bit shocked to see I was nearly four-tenths off,” Sam Dejonghe explained to radiolemans.com’s Diana Binks. “But the track changed quite a bit and the conditions got better towards the end of the session. So yeah, it all came good in the end and it’s good to put the Audi on pole.”
Current TCE standings leader Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing starts 2nd. The Swiss team comes into this weekend’s 24H PORTIMAO with three TCR wins already under its belt from Dubai, Mugello and Brno.
The TOPCAR sport by Bas Koeten Racing CUPRA TCR DSG (#131, Ronny Jost / Julien Apotheloz / Kari-Pekka Laaksonen / Antti Buri) leads an all CUPRA second row just ahead of the Red Camel-Jordans.nl CUPRA TCR (#101, Luc Breukers / Klaus Kresnik / Nuno Corvo / Henry Littig). The latter was on TCE pole position at the two previous rounds at Spa-Francorchamps and Brno, and will be keen to emulate its TCE win at this year’s 12H SPA.
The Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport BMW M240i Racing Cup (#869, Martin Kroll / Nicole Holzer / Axel Burghardt / Michael Bonk / Markus Fischer) takes its first A3-class pole position of the season, having pulled 0.3s clear of the Synchro Motorsport Honda FK8-Civic Type-R (#676, Alyn James / Daniel Wheeler / Martin Byford). The latter team currently leads the A3-class standings having taken its first category win of the year last time out in Brno.
This year’s 24H PORTIMAO will start tomorrow afternoon at 12.00 hrs local time, and will run uninterrupted through the night to 12.00 hrs local time on Sunday.
