Winter and overcast weather accompanied the qualifying session for the afternoon endurance race at Oschersleben. Filip Salaquarda, driving an Audi R8 LMS GT3, dominated the first timed session of the new 2023 season on a gradually drying track.
The half-hour qualifying session was accompanied by unpleasant weather, fortunately it was no longer raining but the track remained wet. In the opening minutes, many drivers waited for the track to dry at least a little. Traffic on the track gradually increased and lap times went down.
In the final minutes of the qualifying session, a dry ideal racing line appeared on the track and some drivers began to switch to dry tires. Among them was Filip Salaquarda with his Audi R8 LMS GT3. The experienced driver from the I. S. R. Racing team set a time of 1:31.071 in the last moment, leaving the competition behind by more than a second.
It should be noted that on the gradually drying track, the key advantage was if the driver set the time at the latest possible moment. In second place, also on slicks, was the duo Piotr Wira – Daan Pijl with the Mercedes AMG GT3. From third place will start BMW M4 GT3 with Gregor Zsigo and BMW Junior factory driver, American Neil Verhagen.
Fourth fastest time was set by Libor Milota with the Mercedes AMG GT3, fifth was Dan Skalický with the Audi R8, and sixth was Miro Konopka with the Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
In the GTX category, the fastest duo was Petr Lisa and Pavel Sovička with the KTM GTX, while in the GT4 category, the best time was set by local driver Bastian Hein with the BMW M4 GT4.
Due to accidents in the free practice sessions, Petr Brecka with the Porsche 911 Cup and Andrej Lah-Matej Kosič with the Mercedes AMG GT4 did not participate in the qualifying. However, their teams will repair their cars, so they will start from the back row.”
Foto: I.S.R. Racing