The suspense was almost palpable. Friday's qualifying session marked the official start of the 11th season of the ATS Formula 3 Cup. A total of 17 drivers from 11 countries battled for the fasted time at Oschersleben. Contesting for the Lotus team, local hero Marvin Kirchhfer took the first pole of the season. His team-mates Artem Markelov from Russia and Briton Emil Bernstorff secured the second and third place respectively. Sebastian Balthasar from Cologne set the fastest lap in the Trophy ranking for the GU-Racing team.
After a challenging preparation phase due to the weather conditions, wet tyres seemed to be the right choice initially for the first qualifying session of the season. However, the weather remained good. Performance Racing's Swedish driver John Bryant-Meisner put in a fantastic performance in 19 degree weather and cloudy skies, setting the fastest time right away, followed by his team-mate, Austrian Thomas Jger, American Gustavo Menezes for Van Amersfoort Racing and Swiss Yannick Mettler for Performance Racing. However, it was not long before Kirchhofer set the fastest time in lap three. That did not change until the end of the session. The 19-year old driver from Leipzig took the first pole of the season, with a lap time of 1:20.371, closely followed by Artem Markelov (1:20.570). Emil Bernstorff will start from the third place tomorrow. The Lotus team demonstrated impressively that they are at home at the etropolis Motorsportarena. Since Kirchhfer also set the second fastest time he will start the third race in the pole positionin a Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine like all drivers competing in the Cup ranking.
Close grid in the Trophy ranking Maximilian Hackl in a Dallara F307 OPC-Challenge for the Franz Woss Racing team battled with three rookies in the Trophy ranking. However, the Austrian was defeated in the end. Contesting for the GU-Racing team in a Dallara F308 Mercedes, Sebastian Balthasar from Cologne set the fastest time in 1:23.326.
Marvin Kirchhofer: I am very happy. We did a great job. We were very fast in the free practice session. The double pole is a great motivation for tomorrow.
Artem Markelov: I am happy, that was my first good qualifying in two years, I just improved and I am really happy. The second place is really good for me.
Emil Bernstorff: It was good! I think I was quite losing a lot in the first sector, but the rest of it was pretty much on speed.
Sebastian Balthasar: We have achieved our goal. Tomorrow I would like to gain a few places and battle with the Cup drivers, even though they will be superior.
