BMW claims the pole position for the 40th running of the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in the Z4 GT3 - Qualifying results

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Conrgratulations to driver Use Alzen for BMW Team Schubert who set the fastest lap at the Nurburgring taking the pole position for the 40th running of the 24 hour race in his Z4 GT3. He was able to outpace stiff competition coming from Audi in their R8 LMS as well as the Porsche GT3's, Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 race cars, Corvette Z06 GT3's, and the Aston Martins. This is going to be a tightly contested race and we will bring you updates as it unfolds.

Full qualifying results are below.

Pos	No	Team	Driver	Car	Time
1	19	BMW Team Schubert	Uwe Alzen	BMW Z4 GT3	8:18.382
2	26	Mamerow Racing	Chris Mamerow	Audi R8 LMS ultra	8:19.700
3	15	Black Falcon	Shawn Edwards	Mercedes-Benz AMG	8:20.050
4	65	Hankook Team Heico	Lance David Arnold	Mercedes-Benz AMG	8:20.731
5	20	BMW Team Schubert	Dirk Adorf	BMW Z4 GT3	8:20.906
6	11	Wochenspiegel Manthey	Marc Lieb	Porsche 911 GT3	8:21.387
7	66	Hankook Team Heico	Pierre Kaffer	Mercedes-Benz AMG	8:21.604
8	2	Phoenix Racing	Frank Stippler	Audi R8 LMS ultra	8:21.819
9	17	BMW Team Vita4One	Pedro Lamy	BMW Z4 GT3	8:22.230
10	22	ROWE Racing	Thomas Jäger	Mercedes-Benz AMG	8:22.252
11	4	Speedhunters WRT	Edward Sandström	Audi R8 LMS ultra	8:22.404
12	3	Phoenix Racing	Marc Basseng	Audi R8 LMS ultra	8:22.426
13	9	Raeder Motorsport	Thomas Mutsch	Audi R8 LMS ultra	8:23.053
14	29	Marc VDS	Maxime Martin	BMW Z4 GT3	8:23.111
15	18	BMW Team Vita4One	Jens Klingmann	BMW Z4 GT3	8:23.179
16	7	Young Driver AMR	Darren Turner	Aston Martin Vantage	8:23.815
17	6	Young Driver AMR	Tomas Enge	Aston Martin Vantage	8:24.824
18	90	HARIBO Racing Team	Tommy Milner	Corvette Z06 R GT3	8:24.901
19	12	Wochenspiegel Manthey	Jochen Krumbach	Porsche 911 MR	8:26.901
20	21	ROWE Racing	Roland Rehfeld	Mercedes-Benz AMG	8:26.908
21	10	Manthey Racing	Marco Holzer	Porsche 911 GT3 R	8:27.705
22	28	Frikadelli	Christopher Brück	Porsche 911 GT3 R	8:28.616
23	27	Timbulli Racing	Norbert Siedler	Porsche 911 GT3 R	8:28.945
24	8	HARIBO Racing Team	Christian Menzel	Porsche 911 GT3 R	8:29.185
25	25	Audi race experience	Marco Werner	Audi R8 LMS ultra	8:29.546
26	777	H&R Spezialfedern	Christian Engelhart	Ford GT3	8:30.427
27	69	Dörr Motorsport	Rudi Adams	McLaren MP4-12C	8:31.567
28	24	Audi race experience	Florian Gruber	Audi R8 LMS ultra	8:31.798
29	59	Dörr Motorsport	Peter Kox	McLaren MP4-12C	8:32.089
30	1	Global Partner Enterprise	Fabrizio Giovanardi	P4/5	8:32.586
31	16	Black Falcon	Hannes Plesse	Mercedes-Benz AMG	8:34.769
32	83	Gazoo Racing	Akira Ida	Lexus LFA	8:36.190
33	47	Timbulli Racing	Marco Seefried	Porsche 997 GT3	8:36.933
34	150	Kremer Racing	Wolfgang Kaufmann	Porsche 911 KR	8:42.377
35	39	Dörr Motorsport	Rudi Adams	Porsche 911 Cup	8:42.508
36	54	David Horn	Chris Zöchling	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	8:43.999
37	50	Raceunion Teichmann	Andreas Gülden	Porsche 977 GT3 Cup	8:45.394
38	111	Raeder Motorsport	Stefan Landmann	Audi TT RS	8:46.885
39	30	Gemballa Racing		McLaren MP4-12C	–
40	44	Falken Motorsports		Porsche 911 GT3 R	–

Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):
“Congratulations to our teams at the Nürburgring – particularly Uwe Alzen and BMW Team Schubert. We followed the Top 40 Qualifying with great excitement from Brands Hatch. The grid positions at a 24-hour race are obviously not as crucial as in a sprint. Despite this, it is good to see that the BMW Z4 GT3 is competitive on the Nordschleife this weekend. We are certainly in a promising position going into the race.”

Stefan Wendl (Team Manager BMW Team Schubert):
“A dream start for BMW, a dream start for BMW Team Schubert, and a dream start for our partners. I am delighted with this result. I am particularly pleased for the team, and for our mechanics. We really wanted that pole position and focussed hard on getting it. It is obviously not hugely important in a race of this length, but it does give us a slight advantage when it comes to the pit stop strategy. Whoever comes into the pits before the other teams is guaranteed a free fuel rig. Uwe put in a fantastic lap. Compliments also to Dirk Adorf. Although his second lap was not ideal, he is still well placed at the front of the field in fifth. On the whole, we will start the race in an excellent position.”

Michael Bartels (Team Manager BMW Team Vita4One):
“You could see that the BMW Z4 GT3 package is very competitive here. Ninth and 15th may not be the best grid positions, but it is now important to focus on the race and use every last opportunity to fine tune the car, tease out every last ounce of performance and at the same time make it reliable. All we are thinking about now is how we can get our two BMW Z4 GT3s through the race with as few mistakes as possible.”

Bas Leinders (Team Manager Marc VDS Racing Team):
“We are very happy with 14th place on the grid. It is our first marathon at the Nürburgring, but we have a lot of experience with 24-hour races. We know the race is not won in qualifying. However, the good news is we are getting closer and closer to achieving the pace of the leading cars. It is now a matter of being consistent. The BMW Z4 GT3 is very fast and reliable. We are lining up with just one car. If it has to retire, we do not have a second iron in the fire. On the positive side, however, we can focus all our attention on one car.”

Uwe Alzen (BMW Team Schubert, car number 19):
“I don’t know what I would have preferred to have been today: a racing driver or a spectator. The new Top 40 Qualifying was unbelievable fun. The car was super, the tyres were super – and I put absolutely everything into it. I think our rivals did too.”

Dirk Adorf (BMW Team Schubert, car number 20):
“My first lap was good and gave me a lot of confidence. Unfortunately I then went a bit wide at one point and almost ran out of track – otherwise my second lap would have been even better. All in all, we are perfectly placed with both the team’s cars. Bring on the 24-hour race.”

Pedro Lamy (BMW Team Vita4One, car number 17):
“I didn’t know what was in store for us today. It is fantastic for BMW to have a BMW Z4 GT3 on pole. It shows that this car is very quick. It was great fun to drive on a clear track. Like every other racing driver, I would obviously have liked to have been right at the front, but qualifying is not the be all and end all. We have a good starting position for the race.”

Jens Klingmann (BMW Team Vita4One, car number 18):
“Our goal was to qualify in the first 15, which we did. So we can be happy with what we achieved. It was a very tough qualifying. I never thought that everyone would be so quick particularly those at the front of the field. The car is very good and reliable, as we have already seen in the VLN. We are confident ahead of tomorrow’s race.”

Maxime Martin (Marc VDS Racing Team, car number 29):
“That is a great result, which we are very happy with. What really matters, however, is to be at the front at the end of the race. Although this is our debut here, we know the Nürburgring from the VLN and are optimistic that we can get a good result.”

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You can listen to the race live here: http://radiolemans.0157.org/nplayer.php

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You should be able to watch the race unfold here as well: http://www.24stundenonline.de/event.php

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Also found this Iphone/Ipad app to follow the race through GPS: http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/24h-r...444591012?mt=8