FIA GT1, Abu Dhabi - Qualifying Report
First Pole For Münnich

After setting the fastest time in pre-event testing and taking top six positions in Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport secured their first ever FIA GT1 World Championship pole position with the Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-SV of Nicky Pastorelli and Dominik Schwager.

In the qualifying session that started at 19:45 local time all teams rushed out onto the Yas Marina circuit as soon as they could. The four Nissan GT-Rs were on the pace immediately and it looked like they took control at the front, but as the clock ticked down other teams started to improve and eventually the #8 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin managed to lap the track just a split-second faster. It topped the time sheets with a lap time of 1:52.521. As the flag came out thirteen cars were within one second of each other. The two Belgian Racing Ford GTs, the #4 Hexis AMR Aston and the #6 Swiss Racing Team Lamborghini were eliminated after Q1.

The Nissan drivers were first out again in Q2. But after putting in their fastest laps the other teams did their laps and soon the Nissan GT-Rs started to drop down the order. Tomas Enge was the first non-Nissan driver to move up into first place in Q2, but a lap after the Czech had posted a 1:52.010 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport’s Dominik Schwager went even quicker and posted a 1:52.006. In the remaining minutes several drivers managed to improve their lap times, but none of them was able to beat Schwager’s time.

The second All-Inkl.com Lamborghini did not put in a flying lap due to gearbox problems.

Marc Basseng: “We had a problem with the gearbox. It was missing downshifts so we had to stop so as not to destroy the gearbox too much. It was not so good for us but I am happy that the 37 has gone well today. Markus (Winkelhock) and I showed that we are very competitive and I think we could have got third in qualifying.”

The #47 DKR Engineering Corvette, #40 Marc VDS Racing Ford GT, #3 Hexis AMR Aston, #5 Swiss Racing Team Lamborghini and the #21 Sumo Power GT Nissan failed to make it into the final qualifying session as well.

In Q3 all five brands were represented: three Nissans, two Astons, one Ford GT, one Corvette and one Lamborghini. The Nissan and Aston Martin tried hard to get pole position for the opening round of the 2011 season but in the last minute it was Nicky Pastorelli who blasted through in a 1:51.668, around half a second quicker than second placed #8 Young Driver AMR Aston and the #41 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT.

Nicky Pastorelli: "The car was really good, and we managed to have a good lap in Q3 which brought us to this nice result. We hope to do it again tomorrow when it really counts, we will see tomorrow, but I’m really happy not only for myself but also for the team. They did so much hard work over the last year, when they started from zero, and if you look at the results from last year the first race we were on the last row. The first row this year shows what a great job they did."

Stefan Mücke: “We found quite a good set up, and for everybody it was new to drive in the cold conditions at night but we did a good job, everything was fine so it’s looking good for tomorrow. We made a few changes to the car over winter, and it’s a bit easier to drive, hopefully a bit more consistent in the race, so the plan now is to collect good points tomorrow!”

Maxime Martin: "Of course the weekend started quite badly with a broken engine on Wednesday but it looks good for the moment and we are very happy. For my first Qualifying with Fred, it’s great!”

MtC