Gatting and Olander dominate qualifying in rain

Two months after the last round in Valencia, the Ferrari Challenge drivers were back on track for Race-1 qualifying at the Nürburgring in the fifth round of the 2021 season. In the Trofeo Pirelli, Michelle Gatting (Scuderia Niki – Iron Lynx) claimed her fourth pole of the season, while Hugo Delacour (Scuderia Monte-Carlo) took his first in the Am. Stormy weather with heavy rain affected both sessions.

In the Coppa Shell, James Weiland (Rossocorsa) set the best time, with Joakim Olander (Scuderia Autoropa) taking pole position in the Am class. 

Trofeo Pirelli. Championship leader Michelle Gatting claimed pole after slugging it out to the last lap with Niccolò Schirò (Rossocorsa). The Danish driver set the fastest lap time in the final few minutes of qualifying when the session resumed after a red flag to remove Marco Pulcini's Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo, stuck in a dangerous part of the track. Thomas Neubauer (Charles Pozzi - Courage) and John Wartique (FML - D2P) will set off on the second row behind them. Hugo Delacour came out on top in the Am, clinching pole in the last laps, holding off Alessandro Cozzi (Formula Racing) and Hanno Lasckowski (Riller & Schnauck). Roger Grouwels (Kroymans – Race Art) set the fourth-fastest time, qualifying ahead of class leader Christian Brunsborg (Formula Racing). 

Coppa Shell. The drivers gave it their all for the entire 30-minute battle against the clock for pole. In the end, an unstoppable Joakim Olander in the Coppa Shell Am vanquished all the competition with a stratospheric best overall time of 2:19.137. In his class, second place went to teammate Ingvar Mattsson, over three seconds behind. Martinus Richter (MERTEL Italo Cars Nürnberg) was even further back, over six seconds, followed by Tommy Lindroth (Baron Motorsport).

The Coppa Shell pole saw a very tight fight for pole, with James Weiland second overall in a time of 2:21.907, only beating Ernst Kirchmayr (Baron Motorsport) in the final moments. The title battle between the two continues, with the Austrian ahead by just one point. Fons Scheltema (Kessel Racing), one of the stars of the session, was third, fighting down to the flag for pole with Weiland and Guy Fawe (Scuderia FMA). Fawe had to settle for the fourth-best time. 

Programme. The two 30-minute races will run this afternoon, with Coppa Shell Race-1 at 1:55pm and Trofeo Pirelli Race-1 at 4:35pm.