Thierry Vermeulen (#69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari) and Maro Engel (#48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG) shared the Rowe Pole Position Awards for this weekend's Sprint Cup season opener after an exciting pair of qualifying sessions at Brands Hatch.
Vermeulen topped Q1 thanks to a blistering final lap, the Dutchman posting a pair of purple sectors on his way to a maiden series pole. The #69 Emil Frey Racing man delivered a 1m23.374s, pipping fellow Ferrari driver Alessio Rovera (#51 AF Corse Francorchamps Motors) by 0.185s.
Marvin Kirchhöfer secured third aboard the #59 Garage 59 McLaren. He will share the second row with Luca Engstler (#63 Grasser Racing Lamborghini), while rookie Arthur Leclerc (#50 AF Corse Francorchamps Motors Ferrari) and defending champion Lucas Auer (#48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG) qualified fifth and sixth respectively.
Vermeulen also earned pole position in the Gold Cup class by a comfortable margin, finishing the session eight spots clear of the #58 Garage 59 McLaren. Saintéloc Racing scored Silver Cup pole thanks to young Belgian ace Lorens Lecertua, who was 13th overall in the #26 Audi.
Engel came out on top in Q2, while the star of the show was Chris Lulham in the #69 Ferrari. The Winward Racing driver produced a best time of 1m23.240s, 0.027s ahead of newcomer Lulham. This gap is all the more remarkable given the difference in experience between the two: while Engel is among the most decorated GT drivers in the world, Lulham has largely competed in virtual racing for the past five seasons.
The second row will feature a pair of Lamborghini Squadra Corse drivers, with Jordan Pepper (#63 Grasser Racing) edging Sandy Mitchel (#78 Barwell Motorsport). Thomas Neubauer was fifth in the #50 AF Corse Ferrari, followed by Benji Goethe in the #59 McLaren.
Again, the Gold Cup was comfortably led by the #69 Ferrari, with 10 places separating Lulham from Gilles Magnus (#25 Saintéloc Racing Audi). Boutsen VDS secured Silver Cup pole for Race 2 thanks to Cesar Gazeau, who was 16th overall in the #10 Mercedes-AMG.
As ever in Sprint, small gaps made all the difference. The top 22 were separated by less than a second in Q1, while it was 23 within a second in Q2. The #64 HRT Ford Performance entry was absent from Qualifying following its accident earlier in the day, though the German squad has stated its intention to be on the grid for tomorrow's races.
All of the competitive action takes place on Sunday, with the opening Sprint Cup contest of 2025 scheduled to begin at 11:00 BST and the second at 15:45. All of the action will air live on the GT World YouTube channel.
UPDATE: Grasser Racing pair disqualified from Qualifying
Following post-session checks, the two Grasser Racing Lamborghini entries have been disqualified from the results of both sessions. A stewards' decision stated that the cars – #19 and #63 – were "not in conformity with BOP". The decisions can be read here and here for the #19 and the #63 respectively. Amended results can be found below.
RESULTS: Qualifying 1 | Qualifying 2