ATS Formel 3 Cup – Double pole for Marvin Kirchhöfer

Today marked a debut for the 19 race drivers from eleven countries contesting in the ATS Formula 3 Cup. It was their first participation in the support programme of the DTM. This circuit version, the 3.478-km GP circuit, which is only used this weekend, is also new for all competitors. The drivers started off into the fifth racing weekend of the season in sunshine and pleasant 24 degrees Celcius. Championship leader Marvin Kirchhöfer claimed a double pole position at Lausitzring. Sebastian Balthasar from Cologne delivered a remarkable performance again, setting the fastest lap in the Trophy ranking.

Initially it seemed that Marvin Kirchhöfer from Leipzig would not be able to continue his success story, based on the fact that Briton Emil Bernstoff (both Lotus / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) succeeded to keep the fastest time almost until the end of the qualifying. Kirchhöfer in second place; and Austrian Thomas Jäger (Performance Racing / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) defended his third place for quite a while. Kirchhöfer delivered another convincing performance after a pit stop, setting the fastest lap once more (1:17.458 min.) Bernstorff followed in 1:17.708 min. Russian Artem Markelov (Lotus / Dallara F311 Volkswagen Power Engine) pushed to the third start position, setting a lap time of 1:18.262 min. Consequently, the top start positions for race one will show the colours black and yellow of the Oschersleben-based team. And it will be the same picture in race three.

Favourite track Lausitzring
Sebastian Balthasar from Cologne (GU-Racing / Dallara F311 Mercedes) delivered a brilliant performance at Sachsenring last weekend, narrowly missing the podium of the cup ranking. The leader of the Trophy ranking was far ahead again today, setting a fastest lap of 1:19.952 min. The 16-year old completed two test days at Lausitzring, but the track is his absolute favourite. Hubertus-Carlos Vier from Inching (ADAC Team Nordbayern / Dallara F307 Mercedes) will start from second (1:20.968 min). Freddy Killensberger from Wortelstetten (GU-Racing / Dallara F307 OPC-Challenge) secured a fastest lap of 1:21.417 min and will start from third place in the Trophy ranking.

Marvin Kirchhöfer: “I had a lot of traffic at the start. I was not able to complete a perfect lap. I rejoined the session in a better position and pushed through.”
Emil Bernstorff: “I closed the gap from the practice session, I was pretty quick and that is good. Well, it’s not the pole. But we will see what happens tomorrow.”
Artem Markelov: “When we changed to the second set of tyres there were three cars in front and one crashed into the wall. After that phase my tyres were complete destroyed.”
Sebastian Balthasar: “Everything worked out great. We managed to fix the minor problems. I had almost no test days. Therefore the first races were like tests for me. That is why I would like to thank my team for the great work.”