*Fulín hits back from Slovakia exclusion to win dramatic battle for top spot
*Rising star Richard continues strong ETCC initiation with second place
*Home ace Mackschin fastest in Super 1600 as title rival Krafft crashes

Petr Fulín claimed pole position for FIA ETCC Race of Nürburgring Nordschleife by an incredibly small margin of just 0.012s around the legendary 25.378-kilometre circuit.

The battle for pole came down to Czech SEAT racer Fulín – the double winner at the Paul Ricard season opener – versus Swiss Honda driver Kris Richard – who won both races at the Slovakia Ring last month. Fulín achieved a best lap of 9m20.045s in his Křenek Motorsport Léon, with Richard recording a 9m20.057s in his Rikli Motorsport Civic. Both cars are running to the FIA’s new TCN2 regulations.

After leading Free Practice 2 on Friday morning, Norbert Nagy (Hungary) took third in his older-specification Zengő Motorsport SEAT ahead of the similar Lema Racing-run car of Igor Stefanovski (Macedonia). Following encouraging performances earlier in the week in the all-new Peugeot 308 Racing Cup, Frenchman Teddy Clairet finished up fifth, just 0.056s behind Stefanovski in another close margin.

Fulín’s team-mate Christjohannes Schreiber from Switzerland was sixth ahead of the other Sébastien Loeb Racing Peugeot of David Pouget, followed by Fábio Mota and Mladen Laluśić from Serbia. Peter Rikli did not set a time after crashing his Civic at an estimated 180kph. The experienced Swiss put the accident down to a suspected tyre failure and will start at the back of the grid once extensive repairs are completed.

German youngster Niklas Mackschin took pole in the Super 1600 Cup, but having been over half a minute clear in Free Practice 2, he was only 0.787s faster than debutant David Griessner. The Austrian’s ETH Tuning Peugeot 207 team-mate Andreas Rinke (Germany) was next ahead of Ukrainian Master KR Racing Ford Fiesta duo Pavlo Kopylets and Sergii Kravets.

Ulrike Krafft (Germany) and Ksenia Niks (Ukraine) both crashed their Fiestas, with Krafft, a regular race winner in the S1600 category, suffering concussion. She will be kept in hospital overnight as a precaution.

Running behind the FIA World Touring Car Championship drivers on a unique shared grid, the two three-lap races are scheduled for 11h20 and 12h45 on Saturday. Both will begin from a standing start with the top eight finishers from Race 1 beginning Race 2 in reverse order.

POST-QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT: 27 May 2016

FIA ETCC Race of Nürburgring Nordschleife, rounds 5 and 6 of 12, 26-28 May 2016

Media Centre, Nürburgring Nordschleife, 15h45, Friday 27 May

Present:
Petr Fulín, Křenek Motorsport, first position, Super 2000 Cup
Kris Richard, Rikli Motorsport, second position, Super 2000 Cup
Norbert Nagy, Zengő Motorsport third position, Super 2000 Cup
Niklas Mackschin, GENA Autosport, first position Super 1600

Q: You’re in pole position here in Germany, does this make up for the disappointment of Slovakia and the unfortunate exclusion from the first race would you say?

PF: Firstly, I would like apologise for my English again but concerning the question, yes of course we were very disappointed at Slovakia but if I can collect the points here then I will be satisfied.

Q: After Paul Ricard you said you weren’t really looking forward to coming here because you didn’t really know the track so well but your performance suggests that you’re very good on this track?

PF: Yeah, but it was a difficult test session because I had a lot of problems with the fuel pressure and power steering. In the Free Practice I try and find something special for me and for us and I enjoy the track. Everything but you need to have very strong concentration for some special feeling.

Q: After two wins in Slovakia this is another good result for your championship prospects and you’ve closed the gap with two more points in qualifying. It was very close between you and Petr but could it have been better or are you satisfied?

KR: I think it was a very good qualifying for me, I feel very confident with the car and yeah, for me, it's the first time here at the Nordschleife and I love it. It’s very fast and for me very lucky. I think today was very good qualifying and it’s also a team who works very good so I have to thank the team for this.

Q: Now there’s two races tomorrow on the same track as the World Touring Cars again, are you excited by that prospect or is there a bit of trepidation, a bit of fear in you?

KR: I think tomorrow we will see because there could be some crashes between the WTCC cars. I think for all of us it’s important to finish the first race because if you crash in the first race I don’t think you can start the second race. We have to bring back good points and that’s the goal. Then I will take the chances of the race.

Q: Third place here in your older specification SEAT and a good performance. What was your qualifying lap like, were you satisfied with what you did out there?

NN: I’m very satisfied with it, I have two good laps out in the first half and for me it was all about the confidence for the lap. This is just the best for this car. 

Q: Over to Niklas who was fastest in the Super 1600 Cup, this is your home circuit, a great feeling I would imagine being on pole?

NM: Yeah it’s a good weekend for me so far. Of course the races tomorrow will be after the WTCC cars and seven tenths there is not really much on the circuit so I’m looking forward, I’m hoping that everything will be okay.

Q: You have some experience of this track before, did that take a big different for you in qualifying for you today?

NM: Not so much I have some laps here before but not so much. There are other drivers with more experience. But today has been really great for me.

Questions from the floor: Neil Hudson (TouringCarTimes, Sweden) to Kris Richard: You lost out on pole by just 12,000^th of a second, how does that feel on the Nürburgring Nordschliefe?

KR: Yeah it’s only a small gap between me and Petr so I think it is meant to be a bit more than that in both positions but that's racing and second place is also very good so for me it’s okay.