Max Hesse put the #72 BMW M Team RMG M4 on pole for the 2024 24 Hours of Nürburgring with a rapid 8:10.992 tour of the Nordschleife in Top Qualifying 2 this afternoon.
His effort was four tenths quicker than the rest of the field in what was an extremely tight session, with the gap between second and fifth place just 0.15 of a second.
The #72 managed to set pole by progressing through Top Qualifying 1. In the first session, reserved for SP9 cars that hadn’t previously qualified for the final shootout during the N24 Qualifiers weekend, Daniel Harper set an 8:12.0. This was good enough to go third and book a place for the final shootout.
Set featured image“It’s been a good week so far, we are happy with how the car is handling and happy to get pole,” Hesse, who became youngest driver to win the Glickenhaus Trophy awarded to the pole sitter with his performance, said. “This doesn’t mean too much, as tomorrow will be a hard race in mixed conditions.
“Pole means a lot though personally and it’s the biggest race of the year for the brand. The first job is done.
“The track was a bit slower than last year in Qualifying and there were areas where we couldn’t push to the limit,” he added. “The lap is never perfect here.”
The #911 Manthey EMA Porsche will start alongside the #72 on the front row.
Initially, the ‘Grello’ 911 looked like the favourite to take pole during the second session.
Laurens Vanthoor set five consecutive purple sectors on his first lap to be over a second faster than the field heading into the last sector. But his chances of pole faded after losing 1.4 seconds in Sector 9, through Tiergarten. In the end, his best time was an 8:11.398.
“I made no big mistake, just the grip dropped away. In hindsight, you can always do something different, but I’d do the same again,” Vanthoor told DSC.
“It depends on the car and how much you use the tyres. I’ve had years where the fast lap is the second lap but this year it was clearly only the first lap.
“Before this, you say ‘enjoy it’, because it’s one of the best laps you get to do as a driver. That was fun.” he continued.
“Being alone on a GT3 car on the Nordschleife, and for me to be in the ‘Grello’, it always puts a smile on your face, whatever the result.
“It’s a track where you rarely go at 100 per cent because the margin for error is zero. So you get into a different rhythm when you’re alone.
“Starting the race from the front row, it doesn’t get much better.”
Ricardo Feller was the fastest on the second laps, putting the #16 Scherer Sport PHX Audi into third, only eight thousandths behind Vanthoor, with Kelvin van der Linde completing the second row in the #27 Red Bull Team Abt Lamborghini.
Christopher Haase also improved on his second lap to fifth in the #15 Scherer Sport PHX Audi, only 0.15 behind Vanthoor in second place.
“I’m happy, I think you can always find a bit more, but it’s not wise to take risks just before a 24-hour race,” Feller commented.
The top 10 was completed by the #1 Frikadelli Ferrari, the #99 ROWE Racing BMW, the #130 GetSpeed Mercedes, the #4 Bilstein Team HRT Mercedes, and the #33 Falken Motorsports Porsche.
Earlier in Top Qualifying 1, it was Nico Varrone in the #1 Frikadelli Racing Ferrari who set the fast time to top the session, hitting an 8:10.889 on his second flying lap. Varrone’s tour ended up being the fastest time of either session, but beyond securing the #1’s place in Top Qualifying 2, it counts for nought but bragging rights.
His time beat out Sheldon van der Linde’s first lap mark of 8:11.716 in the #99 ROWE Racing BMW.
Joining the #1 and #99 in progressing to the second session were Daniel Harper in the #72 BMW M Team RMG, the #130 GetSpeed Mercedes of Maro Engel, and the #3 Mercedes Team Bilstein with Arjun Maini behind the wheel.
Maini’s time, an 8:13.863, was good enough to beat ‘Ring specialist Adam Christodoulou in the #8 GetSpeed Mercedes to a top five spot by 0.139 of a second.
Also missing the cut were David Pittard for the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin and Augusto Farfus in the #98 ROWE Racing BMW. They will start 19th and 21st respectively.
Images courtesy of Frozenspeed
