Dennis Marschall stormed to pole position for Kessel Racing ahead of this afternoon’s Race 1 of the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup finale at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia.
Marschall’s #74 Ferrari 296 GT3, as a Bronze Cup entry, ran in Group B. The German set a 1:31.081 on his first flying lap, going 0.187 seconds faster than Alessio Rovera’s provisional pole time from Group A.
Marschall then improved further on his second flying lap, with a 1:30.883, more than enough to secure both his and Kessel Racing’s maiden outright Sprint Cup pole position.
“The car was very good the whole week,” Marschall said. “I think I’ve never felt so confident in the car. Lap 1 of the paid test on Thursday, I felt super comfortable in the car on track. Big shout out to the Kessel Racing team, they gave me a brilliant car here!”
Marschall and co-driver Dustin Blattner will be joined on the front row of the grid by their main challenger for the Bronze Cup drivers’ title, the #89 Lionspeed GP Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). Bastian Buus set a 1:31.146 on his second flying lap, 0.263 seconds behind Marschall but still quick enough for second overall.
Eddie Cheever made it three Bronze Cup entries in the top three aboard the #93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Ferrari, ahead of Ferrari factory driver Rovera in the #51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors 296 GT3. Rovera, however, will not start the race from fourth, after crossing the pit exit line in Pre-Qualifying, which triggered a five-place grid penalty. (UPDATE: The #93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Ferrari has had its two fastest lap times deleted for twice crossing the painted area between pit exit and the track during Qualifying. This has demoted Eddie Cheever from 3rd to the back of the grid.)
This promotes Gold Cup pole sitter Thomas Fleming to the second row on the grid in the #58 Garage 59 McLaren GT3 Evo. Fleming set a 1:31.387 on his best flying lap, and with the three cars in front all having to adhere to a minimum pit stop time, the #58 McLaren is well-placed to challenge for a strong overall finish this afternoon.
The third row will feature the first of the overall drivers’ title contenders, with Lucas Auer’s #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo qualifying ahead of the #63 GRT – Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 of Luca Engstler.
Jake Dennis qualified eighth in the #991 Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 Evo, with the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche and #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari completing the top 10.
Silver Cup pole position went to the championship-leading #21 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo after Kobe Pauwels set a 1:31.726 to qualify 14th overall. Pauwels was closely followed by his two closest challengers for the title, with the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II and #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG completing a top-three split by just 0.082 seconds.
Three of the six overall title contenders will start from outside of the top 10 after difficult sessions. Benjamin Goethe was 15th overall in the #59 Garage 59 McLaren, whilst Patric Niederhauser qualified 20th aboard the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche. Niederhauser was one of many drivers who struggled with track limits, with a 1:31.840 set as the checkered flag waved, his only legal lap of the session.
The car with the most work to do in the race, however, is the championship-leading #32 Team WRT BMW, after Charles Weerts qualified 25th. The Belgian lost his first lap time to track limits, and his subsequent laps never threatened the top of the timesheets.
The penultimate race of the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup takes place this afternoon at 14:15 CEST
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
