Ricardo Feller scored a vital pole position for this afternoon's Sprint Cup race at Zandvoort, picking up a bonus point that narrows the gap at the top of the standings.
The #40 Tresor Orange1 Audi posted a 1m32.290s with less than two minutes left on the clock, edging the impressive Laurin Heinrich (#44 CLRT Porsche) out of P1. Feller's timing proved to be perfect as a red flag flew just moments later, preventing anyone from beating his effort.
As well as the advantage of track position, he and teammate Mattia Drudi have closed to within 6.5 points of championship leaders Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy (#88 Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG). The former qualified third, 0.449s shy of Feller.
Andrea Caldarelli will start fourth in the #60 VSR Lamborghini, followed by championship contender Dries Vanthoor in the #32 Team WRT BMW. The Belgian was among those who looked likely to improve at the end only for the red flag to scupper their chances.
It proved to be a perfect session Audi as the Ingolstadt marque also secured pole in the Gold and Silver classes. Alex Aka put his #99 Tresor Attempto Racing machine at the head of the Silver pack, qualifying 10th overall and six spots clear of his nearest championship rival.
Gilles Magnus led the Gold Cup runners in 13th overall. The #21 Comtoyou Racing entry is championship outsider, but will be buoyed by the fact that points leaders Aurélien Panis and Alberto Di Folco (#9 Boutsen VDS Audi) could only manage 21st overall.
The pivotal red flag was caused by Paul Meijer spinning and crashing the #18 GSM AB1 Lamborghini heavily. The Dutchman was able to walk away from the accident, but his team now faces a busy morning to get the car ready for this afternoon's action.
The penultimate race of the 2023 Sprint Cup season will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel, with the green flag scheduled to fly at 14:00 CEST.
