The ADAC Northern Europe Cup contestants lined up in sunny weather for the second round of the 2017 season at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben held under the auspices of the Endurance World Championship. At the end of the two qualifying sessions, GP rider Walid Khan Soppe (17, NED) claimed pole position for both races on Sunday, while Dirk Geiger (14, GER) came out top in the Standard class in an exciting second session.
Standard winner by a narrow margin
Geiger secured pole position in the Standard class. With a fastest lap of 01:35.138 minutes, the ADAC Sport Foundation protégé was only marginally ahead of his opponents on the 3.66km track near Magdeburg.
Oliver König (15, CZE) came closest to matching the current leader in the Standard championship. The speedy Czech was only 0.036 seconds off the pace at the end of the second 30-minute session. Simon Jespersen (15, DEN) qualified third, followed by Leon Orgis (15, GER) and Philipp Freitag (19, GER).
GP class: Soppe fastest in qualifying
In the GP class, Walid Khan Soppe (17, NED) dominated the field. He set the fastest lap in the entire field of riders with a time of 01:33.704 minutes and will consequently start both races on Sunday from pole position. The Dutchman came in ahead of his Freudenberg Racing team-mate Tim Georgi (16, GER). Georgi, supported by the ADAC Sport Foundation, was 0.394 seconds adrift of Soppe and thus starts from P2.
Jan-Ole Jähnig (16, GER) will also start from the front row. The ADAC NEC newcomer, who finished as runner-up in last year's ADAC Junior Cup powered by KTM, lines up in third. The winner of the first race at Assen in the Netherlands, Ernst Dubbink (28, NED), qualified fourth, followed by Kevin Orgis (17, GER).
The second race of the 2017 ADAC Northern Europe Cup will be contested over 17 laps on Sunday morning, starting at 10:50. The second round at the Motorsport Arena will start at 14:30.
Comments from the front-runners
Dirk Geiger (14, GER), fastest, ADAC NEC Standard: "I am happy about the end result, even if the second quali today was less than satisfactory. Unfortunately, I came off my bike, which cost me the chance of closing the gap on the GP riders. I'll now try to forget that as quickly as possible and give it my best shot tomorrow, because after all, I want to win the races here. The track at Oschersleben is really good - there are some difficult corners and fast sections, but overall I always do quite well here. I think the first corner will be the key point for me tomorrow."
Walid Khan Soppe (17, NED), fastest, ADAC NEC GP: "I felt really good yesterday and today, and I'm very happy about pole position. I went out on track twice in each qualifying session. I spent some time in between in the pits, and each time I posted my fastest lap towards the end of the second stint, which shows that I was improving as the session went on. This is a very good omen. I like the track here at Oschersleben a lot, but there are a few corners that don't suit me all that well. My target for tomorrow is to win both races. I'll be giving it everything I've got."