Andy Meyrick (Bullitt Racing) and Arne Hoffmeister (RYS Team Pankl) were the fastest drivers in qualifying for the fifth and sixth race of the 2017 GT4 European Series Northern Cup at the Red Bull Ring. After two days of sunny, dry weather overnight thunderstorms dampened the track ahead of this morning’s Qualifying session, making it even more difficult for drivers to get a perfect lap.
McLaren 1-2 in Qualifying 1; Duncan Huisman inherits pole after penalty Bullitt Racing’s Andy Meyrick set the fastest lap in a wet qualifying session, lapping the Red Bull Ring in 1:48.519. The British driver’s time was just 0.073s faster than Duncan Huisman in the Las Moras Racing McLaren 570S GT4. The #33 McLaren, however, will not start from pole position this afternoon as it was given a three-place grid penalty after an incident in Free Practice 2 on Friday. As a result Huisman and the #9 Las Moras Racing McLaren will line up first on the grid, ahead of the RYS Team Schönramer / Racecom KTM X-Bow GT4 of Achim Mörtl, who claimed the AM class pole. Ekris Motorsport driver Ricardo van der Ende claimed the Silver Cup pole, by qualifying the Ekris M4 GT4 fourth overall. As a result of the penalty for Bullitt Racing, the Ekris M4 GT4 will start from third. Mads Siljehaug and Reinhard Kofler complete the overall top six and the Silver Cup top three. Alessandro Giovanelli qualified the Autorlando Sport Porsche 911 GT4 in second place in the AM class, behind Mörtl, with PROsport Performance driver Philip Hamprecht claiming third place on the grid with his Porsche Cayman PRO4 GT4
Reiter Young Stars battle for pole in Qualifying 2 On a drying track the KTM X-Bow GT4s were among the fastest cars in Qualifying 2. In the end, it was Arne Hoffmeister who qualified the #54 RYS Team Pankl KTM X-Bow GT4 on pole position for Race 2 on Sunday. Hoffmeister’s fastest time of 1:44.428 was attacked by several drivers, with only Achim Mörtl beating it at the very end of the session. However, the Austrian improved his time under yellow and had his fastest time cancelled, resulting in an overall and Silver Cup pole for the Reiter Young Stars driver. Street Art Racing driver Denis Dupont qualified the #7 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in second place, 0.385s shy of Hoffmeister, while Jamie Vandenbalck completed an all Silver Cup top three. The first five cars on the grid for Race 2 are competing in the newly created Silver Cup. Fastest Pro-AM driver in Qualifying 2 was Gabriele Piana in the #111 RN Vision STS Porsche Cayman CS MR GT4, qualifying sixth overall at 0.890s down on the pole time. Luc Braams qualified the Las Moras Racing McLaren 570S GT4 second in class, ahead of Micah Stanley in the Sean Walkinshaw Racing Nissan 370Z GT4. Eduard Anton will start from pole position in the AM class, having set the fifth fastest overall time in Qualifying 2. The young Romanian, driving solo this weekend, was two seconds faster than Giuseppe Fascicolo and Achim Mörtl. Follow the race live The first 50-minute GT4 European Series Northern Cup race at the Red Bull Ring will get underway at 16:25 local time. Make sure to tune in on our official LIVE! page, the GT4 European Series Northern Cup YouTube channel or SRO Motorsports Group’s GT World YouTube channel to follow the race with English commentary.
