Hotly contested first qualifying in Italy for Prototype Cup Europe runners provides thrilling session

Hugely competitive qualifying sessions provide great start to new Protoype Cup Europe

Mattis Pluschkell (21/Elmenhorst) and Maksymilian Angelard (18/POL, both BWT Mücke Motorsport) won the Junior title and also finished runner-up in the Drivers’ Championship in their rookie season in the Prototype Cup Germany.

Who will win the Junior competition in the Prototype Cup Germany? Battle for the final few points in the Team classification. Two new drivers line up at the finale of the German LMP3 series.

Mattis Pluschkell (21/Elmenhorst) and Maksymilian Angelard (18/POL, both BWT Mücke Motorsport) took first place in the opening free practice of the Prototype Cup Germany. The German/Polish duo were 0.624 seconds faster than their team-mates Mattias Bjerre Jakobsen (18/DEN) and Riccardo Leone Cirelli (17/ITA, both BWT Mücke Motorsport), who secured a one-two in FP1 at the Nürburgring for Berlin-based team Mücke Motorsport. Third place went to Oscar Tunjo (29/COL) and Alexzander Kristiansson (25/SWE, both Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport), ahead of Sven Barth (44/Eberbach) and Maxim Dirickx (21/BEL, both Aust Motorsport), with championship leaders Danny Soufi (22/USA) and Pavel Lefterov (27/BUL, both Konrad Motorsport) fifth fastest.  Pluschkell moved to the top of the timings sheet in the final few minutes of the session. “I took over in the car when we had fitted fresh tyres. We deliberately used the new tyres in Free Practice 1, as the qualifying sessions tomorrow and on Sunday will take place at roughly the same time, and so the weather conditions may well be similar.” The leader in the Junior competition was happy with his performance. “It was a good session; not yet perfect, but we are heading in the right direction. I believe that the Nürburgring suits our car better than the Norisring, where we struggled a bit with the set-up. And, personally, I like driving in the Eifel Mountains.” Jakobsen and Cirelli made it a one-two for the Mücke team in the first free practice. “My team-mate Mattias produced our fastest lap. I had previously been on old tyres,” said Cirelli. “I think it was good for us all to have a test day yesterday, so we have already found our rhythm today. Now it is all about working on the set-up of the car and on improving ourselves before we head into tomorrow’s first qualifying. It will be important to take full advantage of the tyre’s peak in that session, as the performance drops away significantly after the two possible flying laps.” Behind Tunjo and Kristiansson in FP1 were Dirickx and Barth, who have been in fine form since the Lausitzring weekend and have consequently worked their up both the overall and the Junior standings. “I believe we have found a good set-up for our car. For us, it is now about finishing ahead of Mattis Pluschkell and Maksymilian Angelard, ideally in both the qualifyings and the races, as we want to move above them both in the Drivers’ Championship, and I want to overtake Mattis in the Junior standings.” The battle between the Mücke Motorsport duo and the pairing from Aust Motorsport is for second place in the overall standings and the lead in the Junior competition. Jacob Erlbacher (24/Böblingen) and Jérémy Siffert (22/SUI, both Badischer Motorsport Club) ended the first free practice in sixth place, ahead of Zino-Ferret Fahlke (18/Hergiswil, Konrad Motorsport), Michael Herich (48/Brühl) and Mikkel C. Johansen (38/DEN, both Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport), and Thomas Ambiel (45/Eppingen, Rinaldi Racing).