2022 24h Nürburgring Qualifying 3 & Top Qualifying Report

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2022 24h Nürburgring Qualifying 3 & Top Qualifying Report

【24h Nürburgring – Qualifying 3 & Top Qualifying ／ Nürburgring】

Walkenhorst well positioned to challenge for victory in the 50th edition of the Nürburgring 24 hours

24h Nürburgring

Date	27 May 2022
Course	Nürburgring (Germany)
Weather	QF3 : Fine ／ Top QF : Fine
Surface	QF3 : Dry ／ Top QF : Dry

Walkenhorst Motorsport and Yokohama are ready for a spectacular 50th edition of the Nürburgring 24 hours. The #101 Yokohama-liveried BMW M4 GT3 will start the 2022 edition of the Eifel classic from the fourth row of the grid. Christian Krognes managed a laptime of 8’11.845s in a tightly fought Top Qualifying session on Friday evening, which put him in 7th position on the grid. His laptime was only 2.376 seconds behind the polesitter, underlining the competitiveness of a field in which 17 cars lapped the 25.378 kilometers long legendary Eifel track within 5 seconds.

The spectators, out in full force for the first time since 2019, witnessed an exciting shootout over two laps between 20 of the best GT3 drivers in the world, setting an excellent stage at the evening before the grueling race twice around the clock, starting at 4pm on Saturday afternoon. The team made good use of the last 60 minutes practice session on early Friday afternoon ahead of Top Qualifying, finishing the regular practice sessions in P3 overall.

The #102 Alpecin-liveried Walkenhorst-BMW also charged for the best possible laptime in Top Qualifying with Ben Tuck behind the wheel. The Englishman qualified in 5th position in the SP9 Pro-Am subcategory, setting a laptime of 8’14.970s.

Both the #101 and the #102 BMWs were pre-qualified for the TQ2 session due to their strong performances in the races so far of the Nürburgring Endurance Series and the 24h Qualifiers, thus avoiding a heavily competitive TQ1 session in which 17 cars battled for the four final spots in TQ2, resulting in several top-tier cars missing out on TQ1 that must start the race from outside the top 20.

The #100 car in its special livery celebrating the 50th anniversary of the BMW M brand did not take part in either Top Qualifying session. It has been relegated to the back of the first starting group due to a “Code 60” infringement in practice – a penalty that affected several cars in the event so far. It had qualified during the regular practice sessions in P10 in the SP9 Pro-Am subcategory. A similar infringement originally affected the #102 on Thursday. However, after closely examining the situation, the stewards decided to revoke the penalty for the #102 car.

DRIVER VOICE

Christian Krognes　[Walkenhorst Motorsport]

“P7 in the largest GT3 race in the world is a good starting position for us. All in all, I’m very happy, because I’m very satisfied with the package that we have for the race. Thank you so much to the team and the guys from Yokohama. As I keep saying all season long, we have a package that can win the race. These tires are durable, reliable, and super quick. We didn’t have any punctures so far that weren’t from debris. I’m really, really excited for the race. We’ll put the pressure on the few cars ahead of us as we are in a good position to fight with them right from the start. The goal is to win the race. You also need a bit of luck for that, so fingers crossed.”