Morris Schuring takes Zandvoort pole as the title leaders qualify 33rd and 27th
Schuring took his first GT World Challenge pole on home ground, with two Gold Cup cars behind him and the championship leaders down in 33rd and 27th.
Morris Schuring took pole position for the first Sprint Cup race at Zandvoort on Saturday morning, beating the field by a tenth of a second in front of a home crowd. Two Gold Cup cars and two Bronze Cup cars finished ahead of most of the Pro runners, and the two drivers leading the championship qualified 33rd and 27th.
In this article
- A 1m33.730s put the number 2 Porsche on pole
- Gold and Bronze cars filled four of the top five places
- The championship leaders qualified 33rd and 27th
- Vermeulen ninth, Flynt Schuring 24th
- Lismont led Silver, Cheever led Bronze
- The full Qualifying 1 classification
- The official starting grid for Race 1
- Our reservation: pole is worth less here than it looks
- Race 1 starts at 14:45
A 1m33.730s put the number 2 Porsche on pole
Schuring set a 1m33.730s in the number 2 Boutsen VDS Porsche 911 GT3 R on his third lap of the session, and it is the first pole of his GT World Challenge career. It was seven tenths of a second faster than the quickest time anyone had managed all weekend, his own 1m34.450s from Friday afternoon, and it held through both qualifying groups.
Qualifying 1 was split into two groups, with the field of 45 divided roughly in half and the two groups combined into a single classification. Schuring ran in the first group and nobody in the second group came within two tenths of him.
His weekend is now three sessions old and he has been fastest in two of them. Dorian Boccolacci shares the number 2 car with him, and because the two drivers split the qualifying sessions, Sunday morning belongs to the Frenchman.
Gold and Bronze cars filled four of the top five places
Behind Schuring the order reads oddly for anyone who expects the Pro cars to fill the front. Thomas Fleming was second, 0.101s back, in the number 58 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, which is a Gold Cup entry. Tommaso Mosca was third, 0.147s back, in the number 51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, also Gold.
Fourth and fifth went to Bronze Cup cars. Eddie Cheever was 0.241s off pole in the number 93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Porsche and Augusto Farfus 0.311s off in the number 991 Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Cheever took Bronze Cup pole on his last lap of the session, displacing Farfus by 0.070s.
The explanation is in the format rather than in any upset. Gold and Silver are graded by driver rating and Bronze pairs a professional with an amateur, and each car splits its two drivers across the two qualifying sessions. Sunday, with the other driver aboard, will produce a different order.
Garage 59 had a good morning either way, with the number 58 second and Dean Macdonald sixth in the number 59 Pro car. The top nine were covered by 0.354s.
The championship leaders qualified 33rd and 27th
Zandvoort is the penultimate round of the Sprint Cup and five crews came here separated by less than ten points. Qualifying 1 pulled them apart.
Charles Weerts qualified the number 32 Team WRT BMW in 33rd, 1.015s off pole. He and Kelvin van der Linde lead the championship on 49.5 points. The official starting grid, issued at 12:07, places the car 33rd, exactly where it qualified, so the five place penalty Van der Linde brought to Zandvoort does not change this grid.
Daniel Juncadella was 27th in the number 3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing entry, 0.729s off pole. He and Chris Lulham are third in the standings on 44.5 points.
The two crews who gained are the ones in between. Bastian Buus put the number 80 Lionspeed Porsche eighth, and he and Ricardo Feller are second on 47 points. Thomas Neubauer was tenth in the number 50 AF Corse Ferrari, fourth in the standings on 41 points with Arthur Leclerc. Lucas Auer qualified the number 48 Winward Mercedes 20th.
Only two of the five title crews start Saturday inside the top ten, and both of them are chasing rather than leading.
Vermeulen ninth, Flynt Schuring 24th
Four Dutch drivers are on the Zandvoort entry list and three of them had a session to report. Beyond Schuring, Thierry Vermeulen was ninth in the number 69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari, 0.354s off pole and the last car inside that opening group of nine.
Flynt Schuring was 24th in the number 89 Lionspeed GP Porsche, the sixth quickest of the twelve Silver Cup cars. Jop Rappange does not qualify the number 77 KPX Motorsport BMW in the first session; David Pittard ran it and finished 42nd.
Lismont led Silver, Cheever led Bronze
Schuring led Pro, Fleming led Gold in second overall, and Cheever led Bronze in fourth. Silver went to Matisse Lismont in the number 30 Team WRT BMW, 14th overall and 0.454s off pole.
Valentino Rossi qualified the number 46 Team WRT BMW 35th, 1.108s off pole. The number 31 WRT car of Amaury Cordeel and Jordan Pepper did not set a time.
The full Qualifying 1 classification
Times taken from the combined classification of the two qualifying groups. The result is provisional until the stewards confirm it.
| Pos | No | Class | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Pro | Morris Schuring | Boutsen VDS (Porsche) | 1:33.730 | |
| 2 | 58 | Gold | Thomas Fleming | Garage 59 (McLaren) | 1:33.831 | +0.101 |
| 3 | 51 | Gold | Tommaso Mosca | AF Corse (Ferrari) | 1:33.877 | +0.147 |
| 4 | 93 | Bronze | Eddie Cheever | Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing (Porsche) | 1:33.971 | +0.241 |
| 5 | 991 | Bronze | Augusto Farfus | Paradine Competition (BMW M) | 1:34.041 | +0.311 |
| 6 | 59 | Pro | Dean Macdonald | Garage 59 (McLaren) | 1:34.053 | +0.323 |
| 7 | 914 | Pro | Klaus Bachler | Razoon – more than racing (Porsche) | 1:34.076 | +0.346 |
| 8 | 80 | Pro | Bastian Buus | Lionspeed GP (Porsche) | 1:34.081 | +0.351 |
| 9 | 69 | Pro | Thierry Vermeulen | Emil Frey Racing (Ferrari) | 1:34.084 | +0.354 |
| 10 | 50 | Pro | Thomas Neubauer | AF Corse (Ferrari) | 1:34.100 | +0.370 |
| 11 | 87 | Bronze | Marvin Dienst | Winward Racing (Mercedes-AMG) | 1:34.105 | +0.375 |
| 12 | 12 | Bronze | Fabian Schiller | GetSpeed Team Dubai (Mercedes-AMG) | 1:34.132 | +0.402 |
| 13 | 222 | Bronze | Kiern Jewiss | 2Seas Motorsport (Mercedes-AMG) | 1:34.159 | +0.429 |
| 14 | 30 | Silver | Matisse Lismont | Team WRT (BMW M) | 1:34.184 | +0.454 |
| 15 | 55 | Bronze | Loris Cabirou | Dinamic GT (Porsche) | 1:34.218 | +0.488 |
| 16 | 66 | Silver | Ariel Levi | Tresor Attempto Racing (Audi) | 1:34.223 | +0.493 |
| 17 | 9 | Silver | Riccardo Pera | Pure Rxcing (Porsche) | 1:34.226 | +0.496 |
| 18 | 99 | Gold | Dylan Pereira | Tresor Attempto Racing (Audi) | 1:34.233 | +0.503 |
| 19 | 5 | Silver | Guilherme Oliveira | Optimum Motorsport (McLaren) | 1:34.277 | +0.547 |
| 20 | 48 | Pro | Lucas Auer | Winward Racing (Mercedes-AMG) | 1:34.297 | +0.567 |
| 21 | 21 | Silver | Arthur Dorison | Comtoyou Racing (Aston Martin) | 1:34.372 | +0.642 |
| 22 | 10 | Gold | Robin Knutsson | Boutsen VDS (Porsche) | 1:34.373 | +0.643 |
| 23 | 74 | Bronze | Dennis Marschall | Kessel Racing (Ferrari) | 1:34.407 | +0.677 |
| 24 | 89 | Silver | Flynt Schuring | Lionspeed GP (Porsche) | 1:34.415 | +0.685 |
| 25 | 163 | Gold | Loris Spinelli | VSR (Lamborghini) | 1:34.442 | +0.712 |
| 26 | 96 | Pro | Luca Engstler | Rutronik Racing (Lamborghini) | 1:34.445 | +0.715 |
| 27 | 3 | Pro | Daniel Juncadella | Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing | 1:34.459 | +0.729 |
| 28 | 11 | Bronze | Felice Jelmini | Comtoyou Racing (Aston Martin) | 1:34.515 | +0.785 |
| 29 | 6 | Silver | Aurelien Panis | GetSpeed Team Bartone Bros (Mercedes-AMG) | 1:34.520 | +0.790 |
| 30 | 14 | Pro | Matteo Cairoli | Emil Frey Racing (Ferrari) | 1:34.552 | +0.822 |
| 31 | 27 | Bronze | David Fumanelli | Kessel Racing (Ferrari) | 1:34.611 | +0.881 |
| 32 | 111 | Gold | Arthur Rougier | CSA Racing (McLaren) | 1:34.731 | +1.001 |
| 33 | 32 | Pro | Charles Weerts | Team WRT (BMW M) | 1:34.745 | +1.015 |
| 34 | 34 | Silver | Jamie Day | Walkenhorst Motorsport (Aston Martin) | 1:34.759 | +1.029 |
| 35 | 46 | Pro | Valentino Rossi | Team WRT (BMW M) | 1:34.838 | +1.108 |
| 36 | 35 | Silver | Gaspard Simon | Walkenhorst Motorsport (Aston Martin) | 1:34.872 | +1.142 |
| 37 | 7 | Pro | Nicki Thiim | Comtoyou Racing (Aston Martin) | 1:34.943 | +1.213 |
| 38 | 88 | Bronze | Sebastian Oegaard | Tresor Attempto Racing (Audi) | 1:34.946 | +1.216 |
| 39 | 71 | Silver | Carl Bennett | AF Corse (Ferrari) | 1:35.071 | +1.341 |
| 40 | 84 | Pro | Simon Reicher | Eastalent Racing (Audi) | 1:35.168 | +1.438 |
| 41 | 555 | Gold | Romain Andriolo | CSA Racing (McLaren) | 1:35.283 | +1.553 |
| 42 | 77 | Gold | David Pittard | KPX Motorsport (BMW M) | 1:35.401 | +1.671 |
| 43 | 52 | Silver | Gilles Stadsbader | AF Corse (Ferrari) | 1:35.446 | +1.716 |
| 44 | 54 | Silver | Tanart Sathienthirakul | Dinamic GT (Porsche) | 1:35.713 | +1.983 |
| NC | 31 | Pro | Amaury Cordeel | Team WRT (BMW) | no time |
The official starting grid for Race 1
The stewards issued the Race 1 grid at 12:07 on Saturday. It follows the combined Qualifying 1 classification exactly, so no positions were adjusted. The five place penalty Kelvin van der Linde brought to Zandvoort does not apply here: the number 32 Team WRT BMW starts 33rd, where Charles Weerts qualified it.
The number 31 Team WRT BMW of Amaury Cordeel and Jordan Pepper set no time in qualifying and starts from the back of the grid, 45th, after a stewards decision allowing it to take the start.
The grid is laid out in the usual two columns. The left hand car in each row starts on the pole side. The driver named is the one who takes the start; the second driver in each crew takes over at the mandatory pit stop.
| Row | No | Driver | Team | No | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Morris Schuring | Boutsen VDS | 58 | Thomas Fleming | Garage 59 |
| 2 | 51 | Tommaso Mosca | AF Corse | 93 | Eddie Cheever | Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing |
| 3 | 991 | Augusto Farfus | Paradine Competition | 59 | Dean Macdonald | Garage 59 |
| 4 | 914 | Klaus Bachler | Razoon – more than racing | 80 | Bastian Buus | Lionspeed GP |
| 5 | 69 | Thierry Vermeulen | Emil Frey Racing | 50 | Thomas Neubauer | AF Corse |
| 6 | 87 | Marvin Dienst | Winward Racing | 12 | Fabian Schiller | GetSpeed Team Dubai |
| 7 | 222 | Kiern Jewiss | 2Seas Motorsport | 30 | Matisse Lismont | Team WRT |
| 8 | 55 | Loris Cabirou | Dinamic GT | 66 | Ariel Levi | Tresor Attempto Racing |
| 9 | 9 | Riccardo Pera | Pure Rxcing | 99 | Dylan Pereira | Tresor Attempto Racing |
| 10 | 5 | Guilherme Oliveira | Optimum Motorsport | 48 | Lucas Auer | Winward Racing |
| 11 | 21 | Arthur Dorison | Comtoyou Racing | 10 | Robin Knutsson | Boutsen VDS |
| 12 | 74 | Dennis Marschall | Kessel Racing | 89 | Flynt Schuring | Lionspeed GP |
| 13 | 163 | Loris Spinelli | VSR | 96 | Luca Engstler | Rutronik Racing |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Juncadella | Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing | 11 | Felice Jelmini | Comtoyou Racing |
| 15 | 6 | Aurelien Panis | GetSpeed Team Bartone Bros | 14 | Matteo Cairoli | Emil Frey Racing |
| 16 | 27 | David Fumanelli | Kessel Racing | 111 | Arthur Rougier | CSA Racing |
| 17 | 32 | Charles Weerts | Team WRT | 34 | Jamie Day | Walkenhorst Motorsport |
| 18 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Team WRT | 35 | Gaspard Simon | Walkenhorst Motorsport |
| 19 | 7 | Nicki Thiim | Comtoyou Racing | 88 | Sebastian Oegaard | Tresor Attempto Racing |
| 20 | 71 | Carl Bennett | AF Corse | 84 | Simon Reicher | Eastalent Racing |
| 21 | 555 | Romain Andriolo | CSA Racing | 77 | David Pittard | KPX Motorsport |
| 22 | 52 | Gilles Stadsbader | AF Corse | 54 | Tanart Sathienthirakul | Dinamic GT |
| 23 | 31 | Amaury Cordeel | Team WRT |
Race 1 starts at 14:45 local time and runs for one hour.
Our reservation: pole is worth less here than it looks
A tenth of a second covers first and second, and 0.354s covers the top nine. On a circuit where the racing line is narrow and the run to Tarzan is short, that is not a cushion. Schuring has the best seat in the house for lap one and very little else.
What makes this session matter is not the pole. It is that the two crews leading the championship will spend the first half of the race in traffic while the two crews chasing them sit in clean air. With one round left after this one, a Saturday afternoon like that is how a title changes hands.
Race 1 starts at 14:45
The first of the two Zandvoort races starts at 14:45 local time on Saturday and runs for one hour with a mandatory pit stop and driver change. Qualifying 2 follows on Sunday morning from 10:35, with Race 2 at 14:15.
