Robert Renauer caused a surprise at the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland opener at Hockenheim when he beat a host of star names and former Porsche champions to take pole position.
The 26-year-old is entering his seventh season in the Carrera Cup Deutschland, and has finished fourth in the final standings in each of the previous two seasons. The Herberth Motorsport driver is still chasing his first victory, and will be hoping he can convert his second career pole into a maiden win.
“I'm pleased because that was the best lap I've even managed to do here in Hockenheim,” said Renauer. “Not one skid or slide in the slightest. The key to success was probably that I had a very fast guy in front of me – Nick Tandy. In each corner I could get a little closer to him under braking.”
Current vice-champion in both the Carrera Cup Deutschland and the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Nick Tandy was second for Konrad Motorsport, unable to repeat his pole position from last year. Third was the returning Nicki Thiim for Hermes Attempto Racing.
Reigning Supercup champion Rene Rast was fourth for Forch Racing, with Thiim's Hermes Attempto Racing teammate Stefan Wendt fifth. Jan Seyffarth, returning to the Carrera Cup with his father's SMS Seyffarth Motorsport team, was sixth.
Jeroen Bleekemolen and Uwe Alzen qualified down on the fourth row. The Dutchman, driving for Deutsche Post by tolimit, was Supercup champion in 2008/09, while Alzen, now running his own PZ Aschaffenburg Uwe Alzen Automotive operation, won the Carrera Cup in 1992 and 2007 and the Supercup in 1994.
Also found towards the lower end of the top ten was reigning Carrera Cup champion Nicolas Armindo, who was ninth for Hermes Attempto Racing. Rounding out the top ten was Herberth driver Clemens Schmid.
Sunday's race can be watched live on the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland website (www.porsche.de/carreracup) at 9:15 BST.
Qualifying result:
1. Robert Renauer (D), Herberth Motorsport, 1:41.882
2. Nick Tandy (GB), Konrad Motorsport, + 0.247
3. Nicki Thiim (DK), Hermes Attempto Racing, + 0.252
4. René Rast (D), Förch Racing, + 0.374
5. Stefan Wendt (D), Attempto Racing, + 0.403
6. Jan Seyffarth (D), SMS Seyffarth Motorsport, + 0.440
7. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Team Deutsche Post by tolimit, + 0.465
8. Uwe Alzen (D), PZ Aschaffenburg Uwe Alzen Automotive, + 0.551
9. Nicolas Armindo (F), Hermes Attempto Racing, + 0.586
10. Clemens Schmid (A), Herberth Motorsport, + 1.659
