After an initially damp track, the 122 cars that make up the entry list for the 49th running of the German endurance classic completed their laps largely without problems as the three-hour second qualifying session moved into darkness in warm and humid but dry conditions.
Only in the final moments did Bortolotti in the #63 FFF Lamborghini that he shares with Marco Mapelli, Franck Perera and Giacomo Altoe set the fastest time of the day in 8m18.575s, outpacing the competition by 1.662 seconds.
In terms of numbers, Porsche is the best-represented brand in the top 10 after two of three qualifying sessions. Klaus Bachler set the second-fastest time in the #33 Falken Porsche with Kevin Estre in the #911 Manthey Porsche setting the third-best time.
With the #3 Rutronik Porsche in fifth and the #44 Falken Porsche in ninth, a total of four Porsche 911 GT3 Rs finished inside the top 10.
The BMW Junior Team set the fourth-fastest time. However, it was veteran Augusto Farfus who set the time of 8m21.055s for the #77 RMG BMW M6 GT3. Fellow BMW squad Walkenhorst completed the top 10.
Two Audi R8 LMS GT3s made the top 10, with the #2 Car Collection machine the best of the Ingolstadt cars in P6 and the #11 Phoenix machine in eighth.
The #22 Wochenspiegel Ferrari 488 GT3 ensured two Italian cars inside the top 10 with the seventh-best time, with the #26 Octane-126 Ferrari just a few places further back in P11.
Mercedes was clearly playing a waiting game, with the #6 HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 its best-placed car in 16th. The #704 Glickenhaus 004C came in 25th.
There were a few minor incidents in practice, including a loose wheel on the #114 True KTM, but no major accidents.
Another qualifying session is scheduled from 15:30 to 16:30 on Friday, before the two-part 'Top Qualifying' starts at 18:30.
Qualifying 2 results (Top 10):
Pos. | No. | Drivers | Team/Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 63 | Marco Mapelli Franck Perera Mirko Bortolotti Giacomo Altoe | FFF Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo | 8'18.575 | |
2 | 33 | Klaus Bachler Dirk Werner Thomas Preining Lance-David Arnold | Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R | 8'20.237 | +1.662 |
3 | 911 | Matteo Cairoli Michael Christensen Kevin Estre Lars Kern | Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R | 8'21.001 | +2.426 |
4 | 77 | Daniel Harper Max Hesse Neil Verhagen Augusto Farfus | BMW Junior Team BMW M6 GT3 | 8'21.055 | +2.480 |
5 | 3 | Romain Dumas Julien Andlauer Tobias Muller Laurens Vanthoor | Rutronik Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R | 8'21.420 | +2.845 |
6 | 2 | Christopher Haase Nico Muller Patric Niederhauser Markus Winkelhock | Audi Sport Team Car Collection Audi R8 LMS | 8'21.471 | +2.896 |
7 | 22 | Georg Weiss Indy Dontje Jochen Krumbach Daniel Keilwitz | Wochenspiegel Team Monschau Ferrari 488 GT3 | 8'21.599 | +3.024 |
8 | 11 | Michele Beretta Frank Stippler Kim Luis Schramm Nicki Thiim | Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS | 8'21.830 | +3.255 |
9 | 44 | Klaus Bachler Martin Ragginger Sven Muller Alessio Picariello | Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R | 8'22.041 | +3.466 |
10 | 101 | Christian Krognes David Pittard Ben Tuck Jorg Muller | Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 | 8'22.373 | +3.798 |