Winward Takes Paul Ricard Pole in Mercedes-AMG 1-2

Photo: JEP/SRO

Winward Racing captured pole position for the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup season opener at Paul Ricard, leading a Mercedes-AMG 1-2 in Saturday’s qualifying session.

Lucas Auer, Matteo Cairoli and Maro Engel posted a combined time of 1:53.712 aboard the No. 48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to go 0.123 seconds faster than Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed trio Luca Stolz, Jules Gounon and Fabian Schiller.

The Mann-Filter-liveried Mercedes-AMG led the first two out of three sessions, although the fastest outright time was set by Klaus Bachler, who reeled off a 1:53.091 in the No. 22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Despite that, Bachler, Laurin Heinrich and Ayhancan Guven fell short of a pole challenge, qualifying fifth overall.

They slotted in behind the No. 63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, which locked out the second row.

Sven Mueller, Patric Niederhauser and Alessio Picariello took sixth in the No. 96 Rutronik Racing Porsche, one space clear of the No. 163 Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Lamborghini piloted by Sandy Mitchell, Franck Perera and Marco Mapelli.

Garage 59 captured Gold Cup pole position with its No. 58 McLaren of Adam Smalley, Dean MacDonald and Louis Prette in eighth overall, while the No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO and No. 111 CSA Racing McLaren rounded out the overall top ten.

Silver Cup pole went to the No. 60 Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Lamborghini, while Garage 59 also claimed the top spot in Bronze Cup with its No. 188 McLaren.

All 59 cars set a representative time during qualifying, although the No. 80 Lionspeed GP Porsche is set to start from the pit lane after an overnight engine change.

The six-hour Endurance Cup opener will kick off at 6 p.m. CEST (12 p.m. EDT) with live coverage on the GT World YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Qualifying