Dennis Marschall will start this afternoon's Fanatec GT Europe Sprint Cup contest at Valencia from pole position. The #66 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi left it late to post a 1m30.486s, capping a fast-moving session in which there were multiple contenders for top spot.
Entered in the Bronze Cup class alongside Andrey Mukovoz, Marschall beat overall championship leader Raffaele Marciello (#88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG) by just 0.064s, denying the Swiss driver what would have been a vital bonus point.
Emil Frey Racing locked out the second row of the grid. Thierry Vermeulen took P3 in the #69 Ferrari, beating the sister #14 car of Konsta Lappalainen by 0.028s. Both will expect to fight for at least a podium finish this afternoon.
Gilles Magnus qualified sixth overall and secured pole for the Gold Cup class in the #21 Comtoyou Racing Audi. The Belgian was frequently among the overall top-three during the session and looked a solid bet for P1, but was shuffled back during the closing stages. He will start eight places clear of his closest class rival.
There were two more Bronze Cup cars in the overall top 10 courtesy of Ayhancan Güven (#911 Pure Rxcing Porsche) and Henrique Chaves (#188 Garage 59 McLaren). Christian Klien was ninth in the #111 JP Motorsport McLaren, while title contender Ricardo Feller was 10th in his Tresor Orange1 Audi.
Silver Cup pole went to class championship leader Jordan Love, who will start 17th overall in the #77 HRT Mercedes-AMG. His closest rival – both on the grid and in standings – is Alex Aka (#99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi) in 21st spot.
Today's race gets underway at 14:00 CEST and will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel.
