In a session that defined the phrase “blink and you’ll miss it,” Thierry Vermeulen snatched pole position for the second race of the ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers by the narrowest margin in the event’s history.
In a dramatic Top Qualifying shootout on Sunday morning, the Dutch driver propelled his #14 REALIZE KONDO RACING with Rinaldi Ferrari 296 GT3 to the top of the timing screens, besting the competition by just 0.001 seconds.
The “Top Qualifying” format at the Nürburgring is already one of the most high-pressure sessions in motorsport, giving drivers two flying laps on a clear track. However, the Eifel weather added its usual layer of chaos, with rain beginning to fall in sections like Kesselchen and Schwalbenschwanz during the warm-up laps.
Vermeulen’s Perfection
Vermeulen, a rising star in the DTM, handled the mixed conditions with surgical precision. His time of 8:10.276 was enough to secure the front of the grid, marking a massive achievement for the Kondo Racing/Rinaldi partnership.
The Heartbreak for Gamota
David Jahn, who had already secured pole for Saturday’s session in the #24 Gamota Racing BMW M4 GT3, came agonizingly close to a clean sweep. He missed out on the Sunday pole by a single thousandth of a second—the equivalent of a few centimeters at racing speeds.
Drama in the Eifel
The session wasn’t without its casualties. The tricky conditions claimed several high-profile victims before their timed laps even began:
- Alessio Picariello crashed his Dunlop-Porsche in the Kesselchen sector during the out-lap.
- Sven Müller suffered a similar fate, crashing the Falken Motorsports Porsche at Hatzenbach.
These incidents forced several teams to withdraw or face massive repair jobs before the 4-hour qualifier race scheduled for later this afternoon.
Eyes on the Verstappen Entry
While Vermeulen took the headlines, Lucas Auer (teammate to Max Verstappen) secured a solid P5 for the #3 Mercedes-AMG. After the team faced technical penalties on Saturday, this clean run into the top five puts them in a prime position to challenge for the win in the final qualifying race before the 24-hour main event in June.
With the grid now set, all eyes turn to the 13:00 CET start for Race 2.