GT3 Europe, Nogaro - Qualifying Report

Heico Gravity-Charouz Team and Sainteloc Racing Team secured the first pole positions of the 2012 season at the Circuit Paul Armagnac in Nogaro. Maximilian Buhk will start from pole on Sunday, whilst Gregory Guilvert will be at the front of the grid for Monday's race.

Having had 30 cars on the grid for the final race of 2011 the championship only has 12 cars lined-up this weekend and not only quantity was lost. The scenery at Nogaro was a fitting reflection of the shape of GT3 Europe it seems with paint peeling of walls and faded billboards all along the track. The decline of a once great championship perhaps?

In the first qualifying session for GT3 it was GT3 rookie Maximilian Buhk in the Heico Gravity-Charouz Team Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 who claimed the first pole position of the season. The 19-year-old German was the fastest driver with a time of 1:27.293. None of the other eleven drivers managed to get close, with nearly 65-year-old Marc Sourd eventually setting the second fastest time, three quarters of a second behind Buhk.

Sourd set his time after spinning earlier in the session, the incident not harming his confidence. AF Corse's Michael Lyons was third fastest, the young Ferrari driver's last race weekend in the FIA GT3 European Championship was at Zandvoort, where he finished on the podium. There was an abysmal display by Russian Natalia Freidina. The only female driver in the field was so slow that her fastest time was over 17 seconds slower than the pole position time of Maximilian Buhk.

In the second qualifying session it was Gregory Guilvert in the Sainteloc Racing Audi who was the fastest driver. Early in the session the Frenchman put in the fastest time of the weekend so far, a 1:26.602. All other drivers were unable to improve and some failed whilst trying. Teammate Lunardi spun off bringing out the first yellow flags and Italian Ciro also had all four wheels on the grass on his attempt to grab the pole.