- True Racing by Reiter Engineering lockout front row and both class poles for race one
- Stefan Rosina holds off Anders Fjordbach to keep the #16 KTM on top for race two
- Gianluca Giorgi secures second Am class pole of the season
True Racing by Reiter Engineering got their home race of the Fanatec GT2 European Series season off to a flying start in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring, with Filip Sladecka and Klaus Angerhofer locking out the Pro-Am and Am-class poles respectively for race one.
Stefan Rosina repeated Sladecka’s impressive debut form to secure a second pole for the #16 KTM X-BOW for race two on Sunday. Gianluca Giorgi meanwhile topped the Am class to secure his second pole of the season so far in the Ebi Motors Porsche.
KTM front row lockout
Filip Sladecka opened his debut Fanatec GT2 European Series race weekend in style, taking an impressive maiden pole position for the #16 KTM X-BOW. The Slovakian driver quickly got in the grove and found clear air to set the fastest time on lap four as the amateur drivers vied for their race one starting positions.
Klaus Angerhofer was the first to set the bar in the Series’ first ever qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring before Sladecka snatched the top spot by just 0.042s. Retaining second overall throughout the 20-minute session, Angerhofer secured the Am class pole to make it an all True Racing front row in Austria.
Leading the Audi charge during another incredibly close session, series newcomer Diego Alessio pushed the #88 to within 0.384s of the #17 KTM. Team-mate Henry Hassid, currently second in the Am class title fight, followed suit to lock out the second row of the grid for LP Racing.
Race two winner at Imola, Nicolas Saelens will line up fifth on the grid ahead of Am class leader Gianluca Giorgi on the Ebi Motors Porsche.
Rosina repeats KTM performance
The second qualifying session for the professional drivers proved equally close, with Stefan Rosina – now in the #16 KTM – and Brabham Automotive Factory Racing’s Anders Fjordbach trading times for the top spot in the early stages before Rosina was able to pull a 0.284s advantage on fifth flying lap.
Although an issue caused the Brabham BT63 GT2 to stop in the final turn, triggering a red-flag stoppage with five minutes of the session remaining, Fjordbach had done enough to secure second on the grid ahead of the new #14 KTM entry of Reinhard Kofler.
As lap times tumbled and the order changed every lap, Imola class winner Giorgi came out on top of the Am battle for pole for fourth on the grid, just 0.089 shy of Reinhard. LP Racing once again clocked in the fastest of the Audis, Elia Erhart improving to within two tenths of the Ebi Motors Porsche to secure fifth fastest.
Pro-Am class leaders after round one, Michael Vergers followed suit to bag the best qualifying run of the weekend for the High Class Racing Audi.
The Fanatec GT2 European Series will make history with its first 50-minute race of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring scheduled for 17:00 CEST this afternoon, followed by race two at 11:15 on Sunday. Both races will be streamed live on both the Fanatec GT2 European Series website and the GT World YouTube channel.