NURBURGRING – Matteo Cairoli put on a absolute masterclass in Saturday morning’s Qualifying 1 at the Nürburgring, storming to pole position for Race 1 in his Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. The Italian snatched top spot in the closing moments with a blistering lap of 1:25.345, setting the stage for a crucial fight back in his championship campaign.
Cairoli’s late charge edged out Manthey EMA’s Thomas Preining by a razor-thin margin of just 0.036 seconds. The Austrian Porsche driver, who entered the weekend riding high on strong form, was denied his third consecutive pole position but secures a front-row start for Saturday afternoon’s race.
A Tight Top Five Across Five Brands
The 20-minute session on the 3.629 km sprint layout delivered incredible parity across the field, with five different manufacturers populating the top five positions, separated by under two tenths of a second.
Lucas Auer put his Landgraf Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 in third place (+0.078s), picking up a valuable championship point in the process. He will share the second row with Schubert Motorsport’s Marco Wittmann, who proved to be the quickest BMW driver in fourth (+0.105s). Ben Dörr delivered an impressive effort in fifth, placing his Dörr Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 firmly in the mix (+0.179s).
Championship Implications
Current points leader Maro Engel brought his Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG home in sixth position (+0.205s), keeping himself well within striking distance of the podium.
It was a far tougher session, however, for fellow title contender Nicki Thiim. The Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin driver struggled to find clean space and ultimate pace, missing out on the top ten to qualify down in 11th (+0.318s).
Eye on the Lights
Cairoli’s dominant session was briefly overshadowed as race control placed his final lap under investigation for potentially driving too slowly in Sector 3 during build-up laps, though his benchmark time stood through the post-session checks.
With track conditions holding dry and warm in the Eifel, the field now turns its attention to Race 1, which lights up at 13:30 CEST. Cairoli will lead the 20-plus car pack down into the heavy braking zone of the AMG Arena, with the tight layout promising relentless action from the opening lap.