Nürburgring 24 Hours Top Qualifying: Estre snatches pole in red-flagged shootout

Kévin Estre delivered when it counted, taking pole position for the 2025 ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring in a tense one-lap shootout that followed a red flag delay earlier in the afternoon. The #911 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R driver set a time of 8m12.741sec, securing the top spot for Saturday’s start.

The Top Qualifying session, originally scheduled for earlier in the day, was delayed after a heavy crash by Laurens Vanthoor in the #16 Scherer Sport PHX Porsche at Aremberg. With barrier repairs completed, the session resumed at 16:00 CEST in a revised format allowing just one flying lap per car.

Nicki Thiim was the first to cross the line with a benchmark of 8m19.396sec in the #34 Walkenhorst Aston Martin, but that was quickly bettered by Nico Menzel in the #33 Falken Porsche (8m14.279sec). Menzel had earlier suffered a tyre failure on the out-lap during the original running of the session, forcing a quick pit stop and costing valuable preparation time. He recovered strongly when the session resumed, eventually bringing the Falken Porsche to a strong second-row start. Thomas Neubauer followed Menzel over the line, setting an impressive 8m13.909sec in the #45 Ferrari of Realize KONDO Racing with Rinaldi – a time that set the pace at least for a few minutes.

Attention then turned to Estre, who was lighting up the timing screens in purple through several sector of the lap. Bringing the iconic Grello Porsche down the Döttinger Höhe, the Frenchman edged Neubauer with a time of 8m12.741sec.

Maro Engel, last of the expected pole fighters to cross the line in the #14 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG, showed rapid pace through the final sectors but came up 1.492 seconds short, slotting into third behind Estre and Neubauer. With no further improvements from behind, the top three was sealed.

Estre’s lap marked his second career Nürburgring 24 Hours pole, his first since taking top spot in 2014 with Dörr Motorsport and McLaren. It also delivered Porsche’s first pole at the 24h Nürburgring since 2018, returning the iconic ‘Grello’ to the front of the grid in dramatic style.

Looking ahead, the weekend continues with Qualifying 3 later this evening, giving teams outside the shootout one final chance to improve their grid slot.

Saturday begins with the warm-up session, before the green flag waves at 16:00 CEST for the start of the 24-hour race.

Follow all sessions live on GT.REPORT/live.

Top Qualifying results – Top 10

Estre (#911 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R), 8:12.741
Neubauer (#45 Realize KONDO Racing with Rinaldi Ferrari 296 GT3), 8:13.909 (+1.168s)
Engel (#14 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3), 8:14.233 (+1.492s)
Menzel (#33 Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R), 8:14.279 (+1.538s)
Bortolotti (#27 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini Huracán GT3), 8:14.363 (+1.622s)
Winkelhock (#1 Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 LMS GT3), 8:15.294 (+2.553s)
Engstler (#28 ABT Sportsline Lamborghini Huracán GT3), 8:16.088 (+3.347s)
Krognes (#35 Walkenhorst Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3), 8:16.133 (+3.392s) – Pro-Am
Pijl (#48 BLACK FALCON Team EAE Porsche 911 GT3 R), 8:16.181 (+3.440s) – Pro-Am
Christodoulou (#17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3), 8:17.369 (+4.628s)

The final grid saw some last-minute adjustments: both the #48 BLACK FALCON Porsche and #65 Ford Mustang were hit with three-place grid penalties for failing to have their cars on the ground at the three-minute signal before the session start.